Her Mentor's Luck
by NewQueen96
Summary: Ninja are tools for their village to utilize and Sakura is now learning the disadvantages of this after Danzo's coupe succeed and Tsunade's disappearance. She's a trading piece: personal medic for the Daimyo's imperial fire palace in exchange for approval of the new Hokage, but what happens if not all is as it seems?
1. Chapter 1

Hellloooooo and welcome! I'm a huge Sakura fan and I've noticed the lack of new stories so I decided to try and see what I could come up with! Yeah ok I get it "Ew Sakura, shes a baby that needs saving blah blah blah" some people dont like her, some people do. We're all different so if you hate this then don't read it! Simple! Also a big fan of them "Bad boys" and Sakura so don't kill me please.

Disclaimer: I dont own Naruto! Less Akatsuki being killed off and more screen time!

Here we go!

The cold concrete of the jail cell was home to only the cockroaches scurrying around the damp floor and the broken flesh laying in the corner. Konoha interrogation units were unfriendly to say the least and ROOT made sure to demolish any hope their prisoners had left in them after Ibiki was through with them. Guards came and went as the hours clicked by on a distant clock somewhere, teasing the broken human in the cells, reminding them that life continued on even without them in the world. Or

Or perhaps to remind her that there could very well only be seconds left for her to live.

The drip of water echoed throughout the dungeons stone hallways. Each splatter onto the cold ground only brought Sakura back to the harsh reality that was becoming her miserable life.

 _'Sakura,' the blonde Hokage murmered around her sake cup. Paper work scattered softly across the room in the lazy breeze of the open window. It had been a long day of sorting village papers from the various patient files that managed to clutter Tsunade's desk, but most of the important work had finally be completed and organized within the stiff manila folders of the hokage office._

 _'Hai, m'lady' Sakura straightened her spine, turning from her retreat towards to doors. The sunset trickled through the windows and made Lady Tsunade's eyes shine like honey. Something was wrong, Sakura thought, her mentor was never solemn after finishing work. The sake near her mouth should have been accompanied by a joyous smirk of accomplishment, not the tilt of a frown pulling at her youthful face._

 _'There has been rumors that we are not safe. When you go home tonight I want you to prepare for battle, I suspect we will see the end of this peace by the time the moon has risen.'_

 _The room chilled, a wave of goosebumps brushed over Sakura's ivory skin despite the kiss of a late summer breeze flowing from the window Battle? End of peace?_

 _'M'lady, who is our enemy? You just finished a med nin training program for all the countries in the alliance! Surely they wouldn't attack our newfound peace so early! Akatsuki hasn't been seen in years, Orochimaru has even been silent. Why would someone attack us?' Sakura all but whispered, afraid that even an octave higher would cause her unseen enemies to descend upon her before the moon has its chance to rise. Tonton wriggled uncomfortably in Shizune's steady arms. Her worried brow displaying her concern for the situation at hand, while motherly chocolate eyes were the only thing keeping Sakura from buckling her knees with Tsunade's answer._

 _'Our enemies have risen from not outside Konoha's walls, but within. The elder's believe the best thing to do is to seal Naruto ourselves before he can unleash the nine tails on the village.'_

 _Sakura's world crumbled into a pile of dust, her resolve slowly crumbling as well._

 _Naruto? The young man who defeated rouge nin and village enemy time after time? The man who gave every last ounce of his life to protect the very ones who hated him from day one? His sacrifices and commitments to the village made him a promising runner up for Hokage when the time came to replace tsunade, not even Kakashi-sensei could compete with the toad sage's protégée. Seeing Sakura's shaking, Tsunade continued, whispers caressing Sakura's ears, but shattering her last remaining hope._

 _'I've sent news to Jiraiya, but my careless anger and humiliation of the elder's in front of the council is quite possibly my last act as Hokage….Sakura, it is not looking good. This is the quiet before the storm.'_

And storm it did.

An careless breath made Sakura gasp in more agony than she already was in, the broken ribs were wearing on her nerves and broke her from her memories. How many times had they come to break her body? How long could they snap her bones like toothpicks before getting bored? The interrogations were no longer about Naruto's location with Jiraiya and Tsunade's knowledge of the other countries, the cat had finally caught the mouse and playing with it until its last breath is what they were determined to do. Each breath was labored, and without access to her monstrous chakra, Sakura fell victim to the natural healing process and all of its misery. How many ribs were broken now? Did it matter? How long would it be until her lungs caved on her and she died the death of a traitor for the village she slaved for?

ROOT had arrived at Sakura's house before Kakashi could to escort her to a safe house. Her strength and anger at their blatant betrayal of Tsunade rsulted in her unleashing monstrous chakra on those who dared contain her. Escaping her crumbling apartment building, the earth rumbled. Debris and dust fell to the ground like a race flag being dropped and so started the brief civil war. Citizens, while not the target for Danzo's coup, had been a staggering percent of the death total. Dead neighbors and friends had been displayed in pictures she had been tortured with. Each more disfigured and mangled than the last.

 _'If only their precious Sakura-sama had been there for them, you should have heard the screams for you princess! It was loud enough to drown out the ringing of kunai's and battle!'_

"Ka-san, papa….." Sakura whimpered lightly for the millionth time. Her parents had been lost during the battle, their corpses suspiciously free of wounds expect for the deep kunai slit across their jugulars, deep red, flowing rivulets of blood from the neck down their torsos. They had-

No. Enough of that, being reminded of her parents' brutal death would do her no good. They would be added to the list of ghosts, doomed to haunt her conscious for the remained of her life _"however short that may be"_ Sakura thought darkly.

Danzo's Coup had been successful, resulting in Konoha's freedom being exchanged for his total military dictatorship. 'The Three-Day War of Earthquakes' had lasted, as it's name suggests, a hellish 72 hours of bloodshed and civil war. Sakura had fought to her last conscious moment shattering the battle field with Tsunade taking down the majority of ROOT. Danzo's forces had almost failed. They had almost retreated. The good guys had almost won.

 _Dust particles settled and within the crater created was a squad of ROOT scum that dared begin their siege with the Hokage's apprentice. Tangled pastel pink locks flirted in the wind while the blossom oversaw her handy work. The storm was here and she would fight for the freedom her mentor stood for until her last breath. The anger swam through Sakura's veins, devouring her self-control and for once, freeing the cherry blossom from the regret she might have killing fellow Konoha nin. 'These monsters, Danzo's brainwashed servants, they will tell tales of this day for years to come' Sakura thought grimly. Donning her black fingerless gloves, the blossom healer tied her long hair back from her face and turned towards the army arriving on top what remained of the building in this sector._

 _'Tsunade, forgive me, but I must disobey the first rule of medical ethics tonight….tonight I shall bring their harm.' *(A/N The first code of medical ethics, up until it was revised, said "Primum non nocere" which is Latin for "First do no harm")_

 _The war zone spanned the entirety of the land within Konoha's walls, each acre being torn apart by the limbs of student and master. Sakura had seen Akamaru and Kiba tear through a water dragon attempting to destroy the Kage mountain. Kakashi was only identifiable by the white flashes of hair, the copy ninja too busy saving his village from tyranny to read his precious icha icha book. Hyuga's were fighting side by side, the gentle fist breaking apart chakra ways and rendering ROOT useless. It seemed that all had come to fight for their threatened way of life, and protect the will of fire._

But as life so carefully likes to remind us, not all who participate in war play fair. The survivors write history and those defeated are the only ones left to know the truth. Stifling a tortured moan of pain, Sakura was brought back to her present predicament and the acknowledgement that her future will be cut short much sooner than anticipated. 22 years was much older than many shinobi lived, however, it did not meet her expectations. She envisioned Naruto successfully becoming Hokage, not the dark regime at hand. The new hospital plans for shinobi specialty care and healing was already under construction, the blue prints for the medical ninjutsu school had been Sakura's project for nearly 7 years now. A ribbon cutting was scheduled for her birthday next year.

But 23 was an impossible age for her to reach now.

How many friends had lost their life in the Three-Day war? Why hadn't the other Kage's come to their aid? Did news reach Naruto yet? Was he saving the village again? The annoying dripping reminded Sakura that she would have heard the rambunctious blonde and his jutsu by now, stealth had never been a specialty for the up and coming toad sage. Sakura closed her eyes, sooty lashes brushing her skin and brows furrowing in concentration while she willed herself from the oncoming migraine.

 _Sometime during the battle near the end of the third day, Sakura had been left to heal Tsunade's wounds while Shizune battled a now heavily injured Danzo_. _Neither knew how he came to own an arm full of eyes, but both women could connect the dots and realize they were in trouble. For each life risking injury he would receive, his strength would never waiver, only an eye would close its lids and hid the scarlet depths from the world. How many did he have? Dozens? Twenty? It wouldn't matter, Sakura and Shizune were no match for a man that could call upon the stolen power of others during a fight to the death. Bloody and battered, with eyes swelling shut Sakura could only wish for the best when she summoned Katsuyu to the battle. Jade chakra wavering, the last sight was of the satisfying pop of a cloud and the disappearance of Tsunade and Shizune following on the promise to return for Sakura. Sakura was enough to provide a distraction for the tyrant and held enough chakra to save the two women she saw as family. No longer was she the weak link, it was her time to save her mentors._

 _'And that thought process is what landed us here in the first place.'_ Sakura grumbled silently in her clouded mind. The chains that hoisted her arms uselessly above her must have contained a seal or suppressant of her shattering chakra. Cold metal surrounded bruised wrists, while the chains echoed their song in the empty air. How long would they keep her until she became an example of what would happen should anyone oppose the new "Hokage"?

Sakura's musing was abruptly interrupted by the soft patter of feet in the hallway beyond her cage door. The owner sounded like they were in no hurry, so any thoughts of a pleasant rescue were dashed from her thoughts. The steps came louder still, followed by softer ones, those trained in the art of stealth. She knew they were only allowing her to hear them because they wanted to bring her further anxiety, but Sakura was a woman made of stronger material than her name sake. She would not crumble under Danzo's pressure and she most certainly would not give in to his interrogations.

While steeling her mind for the relentless torture that would surely follow, Sakura hardened her gaze, placing a mask of indifference upon her dirty, sweat soiled face. Anything this traitor throws at her, she would return tenfold. Her temper was renowned for a reason, and if Danzo believed the storm had passed then she would show him he had only just reached the eye of the storm.

His bandaged, wrinkled face came into view first, but had lacked the intimidation or fire Sakura prepared herself for. Instead, there was a sickening sense of accomplishment and he even dared to smile at her through the cage doors. His pride and ego could practically be felt throughout the corridor. 'He believes he won.' Sakura mused, but even so his happiness and content put the pink haired kunoichi on edge. It was much like a cat watching the song bird in its cage.

"Ah, Haruno, I'm pleased to see you up. We were beginning to worry if you had strained yourself too much in your little show." Danzo began, drawing on the 'show' as if it was a mere annoyance instead of a full blown battle that shook the lands and nearly cost him his life.

Sakura kept quiet, not trusting her mouth nor attitude in a situation that would only be rewarded with more punishment. A thinking cat was less dangerous than a taunted angry cat, perhaps she could use the political unrest to her advantage? Shikamaru was always much better at strategy than she, but seeing as the Nara heir was not present she would have to make do.

Sakura must have zoned out, the noises that echoed in the interrogation dungeon were creating a headache larger than an Uchiha's ego. Danzo's lackies had already entered the cell and stood by the door, awaiting any command to remove the pink haired woman's soul from this world should the need arise. Danzo glided into the damp cell, stepping lightly over an unidentifiable puddle of liquid that Sakura had a sinking feeling was gore and blood or perhaps vomit.

"Come now, this is hardly appropriate for the apprentice of the Slug Princess. Surely your lessons in political courteous were not a waste of time. Haruno, I recommend you show proper respect to your Hokage, it is in your best interest for your livelihood."

"A simpering insect like yourself deserves the respect I would give a fly." Sakura bit out with a venom she did not know she possessed.

So much for playing the quiet victim, she bitterly reprimanded herself.

The constricting hand around her fragile airway was well deserved. What she had not planned was for it to come from Danzo, she assumed the lackies would be left to do the dirty work of ending her miserable existence.

"Hush! Learn your place, child. There are worse things than death and I fully intend for you to experience every last bit of it." The threat could only be hidden so well, Sakura struggled with a ferocity that could only be powered by Adrenaline.

His hand remained, but not to the crushing force it had earlier. Sakura greedily gasped air into hurt lungs and filled her airway, the forced tears from his choke made trail marks out of the corner of her eye, a weakness she did not enjoy having him see.

"There has been some who do not agree with my…decisions about the political ruling-"

"YOU murdered and stole your way into the position! You are no leader, but a coward with brain washed servants doing you bidding. Crawl under a rock and die, you old fuck!" She grit out the last part with the bite of an injured lion. Sakura was past the point of valuing her life, if anything maybe she could regain some dignity in death. Maybe the lackies standing frozen at the door would tell tales of her final foolish moments.

Danzo chuckled and patted her cheek non-too lightly. "Oh my, it seems Tsunade-hime's temper stained your attitude. A shame, I had presented you to be a behaving girl of skill, but it seems I spoke too highly." His words stung, but her concussed brain focused on the word 'presented'. To whom did he present? Her confusion must have been obvious because he chuckled a dark, deep chuckle and pulled the bruised blossom closer, her chest nearly inches away from his standing body.

"My dear girl, I need to seal a few trade agreements with lands I can trust. You are my guarantee. To ease the political tension I find myself in need of sending a 'present' if you will, to the ruling family of fire. Their son has need for a personal doctor and specifically requested Shizune or yourself. The fame you two have within this world is beyond my understanding, women holding such potential and being taught as you have been taught….. tisk is a waste of time, but it seems to be a trait the Daimyo wishes to have within the imperial fire palace." Sakura felt nothing, whether it was from the blood loss, the chains still holding her arms in the air, or the soul destroying words the man in front of her was speaking, she did not know. She was to be traded as a tool for the Daimyo to use to his advantage. The Daimyo, who promised to protect the Land of Fire from evil, was now accepting bribes from the very evil he stood against. Her entire existence had just become a piece of property in this horrible, terrible game of life, a toy for the rich to play with until they tired, while her people died in a country overthrown into political unrest.

"I will never agree, surely you know this." She began silently. He had plans, of course she wouldn't agree….What was his playing card?

"My dear girl, who do you think proposed this idea to begin with? I wanted you executed, tormented, humiliated publicly. I desired nothing more than your head on a stake for all to see, but you forget there are those alive that I believe you would like to remain alive. Kakashi-san, Ino-san, and the Kyuubi's precious heiress Hinata-san. I can end every last one of them, it would be my pleasure. I have more than enough on their direct involvement in the destruction of Konoha. Citizens will believe anything, including the rise of a new far off enemy that was responsible for our demise and Tsunade's disappearance." His plan left very few holes that Sakura could think to work around, but reassurance swept through her at the news that Tsunade was safe for now.

"And now I'm to be auctioned to the highest bidder like a toy?"

"Precisely, it's nice to know that brain of yours has not wasted away in here. You are a shinobi, a tool for my use. You will learn more about the situation as needed, but for the time being you are to listen to every command and perform as needed until your dying breath, your _hokage_ commands you." Danzo retracted his arm and allowed his eyes to drift off the jade ones before his own. She truly was a wreck and would need a miracle to clean up before her travels could be made. Selling her as is would only further insult the delicate Daimyo's patience and the last thing Danzo needed was an army of Samurai arriving at the gates to defend their lord's honor. No, for now Sakura Haruno would be taken away and watched carefully by ROOT for the remainder of her life in a far off castle in a far off land. Out of sight, out of mind, but under the constant eyes of his loyal supporters.

"ARGH!" Sakura gasped as her nude body was thrown unceremoniously into the stone basin that served as her bath tub. Once Danzo left, the ninja guarding her cell piled in and removed the heavy, chakra sucking chains from her arms. In a foolish moment of rebellion, she attempted to smash her way through the offending crowd, a wave of cold masks stood between her and the open cell door and she would be damned if she didn't at least try.

" _Well,"_ Sakura pondered _"perhaps punching through a few of their men would warrant for their harsh treatment…"_ 2 men had been taken down in her 5 second flight to escape and another one had managed to break a rib from a desperate kick she lashed out. Knowing better than to transport her to the washroom with chakra, the captain placed a seal on her forehead, directly over her own seal of a hundred strength. The pain from him was immense, causing Sakura to still in her rebellion. Any movement she spared went directly to fighting the tears that threatened to spill out the corner of her eyes. A fiery liquid felt as though it was burning its way to her temples, down her neck, and lowering its self into her arms and spin. Done correctly and with talent, a chakra seal could be painless, however she was seen as a traitor and enemy to the precious _hokage_ and thus deserved no sentiment over trivial things such as pain.

The charcoal lines down her arms attested to her theory that the burning seal left its mark. Not necessarily a permanent one, but certainly one that would require her diligent and careful chakra control in order to remove from her subcutaneous skin. The ninja dragged her pained body into the sterile bathroom and removed the last tatters of modesty she had before dumping her unceremoniously in the bath. A shocking moment for the young woman, but her humiliation only lasted until she hit the freezing water of the bath. Hypothermia quickly became her newest concern.

" _No sense crying over spilt milk_ " Sakura thought to herself as she attempted to raise her body temperature without removing herself from the water. The ROOT member who had brought her to this stark white bathroom remained along the walls, all staring at her with blank porcelain masks of indifference. It was unnerving to be naked and alone in such a place where most prisoners were granted this bathtub the night before their execution. Was this how she was going to meet her maker?

Before her thoughts could proceed down their dark path a door slammed open and in walked the most beautiful pig she had ever seen. Well, perhaps a pig wasn't the most correct term she could have used, but the sight gave her more hope than she had had in weeks.

"You're excused gentlemen." Ino's commanding, yet feminine voice echoed in the large, empty room. Long, blonde hair flowed behind her purposeful strut towards the tub and its occupant, a warm smile on her face.

"Ino….? Ino what's going on!" Sakura asked as the men filed out of the room in an orderly fashion. Was Ino a supporter of Danzo, would she so knowingly betray her, Tsunade, and Shizune in hopes of a promising future with the new regime? Sakura's angry aura grew as Ino drew closer, had she betrayed her? No longer was the shaking from Sakura's cold bath, but now from the anger her chakra deprived body held.

"Sakura.." Ino practically hummed as she drew the stool near the bathtub towards her body. "Oh look at your body… oh Sakura". The tears in Ino's eyes spilled over, a dam had been unleashed when Ino drew her near and hugged her fiercely. The hug had brought back the old pain from her ribs, but Sakura didn't care. She hugged her friend back. Perhaps everything was ok, perhaps her time in a cell had made her paranoid and irrational. The only human contact she had had was the blatant torture on her body and mind.

"Ino… The ROOT man, he's still here..." Sakura's anxiety was swelling in the bottom of her stomach. Ino was smart, but her blatant display of affection for Sakura worried her that Ino would face a fate similar to hers. The blonde heiress soothed Sakura's limp locks, moving to sit on the stool behind her head.

"Its Sai, Sakura. He's a friend remember?" The lack of worry for the presence soothed her somewhat, but Sakura's seen people she believed were friends betray her before. Sai, for the time being, as not a concern, but his ROOT status and statuesque body put her on edge. While Sakura sat on edge Ino updated her about the new Konoha, civilians were given curfews and shinobi were watched intently by various factions of ANBU and ROOT. The economy hadn't slipped yet, but without the Daimyo's approval and consent for the new hokage it was all, but a matter of time before things began to spiral downwards.

"We..." Ino began as she hesitantly changed the subject " We can't find Naruto nor Jiraiya. There's not a single clue leading Danzo to them." Sakura's earlier thoughts were confirmed and a part of her was at peace. If Jiraiya was alive then the toad sage could keep Naruto out of harms way and potentially find Tsunade and Shizune.

Sakura relaxed further as Ino massaged the shampoo into Sakura's tresses, it had been too long since she had someone be gentle towards her, but what was Ino's purpose here? Surely Danzo knew she was with Sakura?

"Ino, what about... well me. I'm a trouble maker, I will continue to actively fight Danzo, I'll lead a rebellion-"

A pale rough hand shoved the pinkette under the water abruptly. Sakura shot up sputtering and coughing, the soap suds had not left a pleasant after taste.

"If you would be so patient as to wait 5 minutes before jumping into your next rebellion then I could explain your purpose." Ino hissed like a viper. She had not seen the blonde this angry before " You're treading on thin ice Sakura. It's taken me every waking moment to get to where we are right now and I'll be damned if you ruin it by playing hero and running out of this room naked to start up another coupe! Sit still and let me finish." Ino finished with a huff and Sakura sat paralyzed. Every waking moment?

A quick glance behind her showed an Ino different than the one from before the three day war. Tired, dark bags lined the underneath of her eyes, the long, voluminous ponytail looked deflated, but her eyes. Their normal aquatic orbs lacked shine and warmth, they told the tale of someone who had suffered.

But not yet defeated.

"Now-" Ino continued as she dumped a sweet perfumed conditioner onto her hair and combed it through "The clans are furious, the civilians can't find you at the hospital, and people are asking some pretty tough questions. Danzo doesn't want them answered so for the time being you've been 'recovering' at an ANBU base out of town. He's not stupid Sakura, you're his problem right now. At the snap of your fingers you could have the world revolt and destroy his reign, and as tempting as that though it he will see to it to destroy everyone you care about before ending your life."

Well at least the bastard knew what he was dealing with. Her attention returned to Ino, her hands had stilled and there was a slight shake in them. Anger? Rage? Fear?

"The Daimyo has requested your presence at the fire palace to be his family's personal medic and to begin work on a new universal health program for the country... We are leaving immediately Sakura."

She was running away. She was turning tail and cowardly accepting the safety of the palace in order to escape Danzo's wrath.

"How could you?!" Sakura started in rage, her weak body shoving Ino's hands off her and turning to face her old nemesis head on. "He might have killed Tsunade and we're RUNNING?! No we will f-" another shove under the water, slightly longer and more aggressive this time. Maybe if she was lucky Ino ould drown her, but luck was not on her side today and the manicured hands released her.

"I've had enough of this Sakura so shut up and listen you damn hot head! He will execute you without anyone knowing, if Tsunade is alive then you need to stay alive for her to find you, she's suffered enough losses in her life and yours would truly destroy her."

The dirty water sloshed over the edge of the tub and soaked Ino, but she paid no mind to it. Her gaze, full of fire once more, was purely focused on her best friend. "Your survival is the survival of Konoha, you're coming with me to the palace and we will live there out of Danzo's sight and live happily ever after got it?"

There wasn't much room to argue, but the look in her eyes and the slight flicker towards Sai reminded Sakura of the intruder's presence " _Not all familiar faces are friendly Sakura"_ She could practically hear Ino's voice beg her to agree and act the part of an obedient friend.

Ino gracefully rose from her seat and walked over to a different door than Sakura had entered the room in. It was apparently a closet for various bathing supplies, as Ino swiftly made her way back to Sakura with two towels and a plain cotton robe.

"You can't parade around the countryside in a robe, it looks tacky and I won't be caught dead with that. How about we get you dressed and start our new life?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

Howdy and welcome back! If you're still reading that means the first part wasn't completely trash so yay! I reread what I wrote and I found a few errors in chapter one that I really want to correct, you shouldn't have to suffer from poor writing quality! There's also a few tid-bits I want to add to make sure my story progresses in a way where all the dots connect. Hopefully this chapter has less mistakes, I'm really sorry its slow starting off, but it picks up from here I promise!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto, unfortunately.  
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The journey north was long and the clothes Ino and Sakura were given for the trip seemed…. impractical at best. After drying off, Sakura had been handcuffed and lead by Sai to a large mission closet where Sakura and Ino were assigned matching travel cloaks and yukatas for their arrival at the palace that night, neither had a say about the color or style which left the young women a tad put off for the remainder of their dressing.

Ino was taken from the room by two elderly women assigned to tie her obi and arrange the mountain of platinum hair. "You will have no need for the bulky ninja gear" they reminded Ino as they gently took away her chain mail accessories and kunai pack. Was this not a travel mission? Sakura found it hard to believe they would be trussed up like holiday packages and thrown onto the road for bandits to attack, surely a kunai pack at the very least would be beneficial for their travels? They left before Sakura could question them, leaving a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Or perhaps that was from the broken rib Ino had healed not too long ago? She glanced at the pile of clothing on the bamboo bench in front of her, its neat package a pretty sight, but not comforting in the least. She supposed she would have to get dressed eventually, it's not like she could wear the thin bathrobe forever.

Still sore from the weeks of abuse, Sakura found herself struggling to get her arms within the deep red yukata without dropping her robe. The white cranes on the yukata seemed to be staring at her in a mocking manner as they motionlessly swooped around the bright red chrysanthemums. All in all, it was a lovely yukata, one she would have been proud to wear for the upcoming festivals but knowing that it had been picked out for her by those who did nothing to stop Danzo infuriated her. Sakura wanted nothing more than to tear the delicate cotton into rags, however, throwing a temper tantrum on an inanimate robe would do nothing to solve her problems. She grew frustrated and sat on a bench, waiting for Ino to come back from the old womans hair pulling and yanking.

"Sakura-san, allow me to help." Sakura jumped with a start, forgetting about Sai in the corner. He strolled over in slow, meaningful steps, his mask still in place and giving her a cold stare. Each step closer was calculated as if she was going to strike him, had she scared him that much with her previous fight? Did he think she was insane, was that why he was actually calling her by her name instead of the derogatory "Ugly"? He had already seen her naked once, so she supposed it didn't matter anyway….

"Yes, arigato Sai..." Sakura sighed in a defeated manner. Modesty be damned, she's a tool and nothing more now. Sai was a trusted team mate from before, he'd saved her life and she had saved his more than once, but he was ROOT. In theory he wasn't to be trusted, Danzo was his master and Sakura failed to see Sai on the day of the attack.

She stood with a huff and handed the yukata to him stretched out hand. Sai came around to her front while she dropped the robe. From here he could see the abuses on her body, the harsh chakra restraining marks that ripped their way across her pale skin, heck she was naked enough for him to see the sword wound from Sasori all those years ago, its mangled scar tissue now a pale purple line on her side.

But, despite exposing her abused and marked body, he made no comments about her ugliness. Sai assisted her as she blushed at the intimate contact. First would be the bra that was included within her yukata. Gentle hands lifted her arms into it, being careful to not inappropriately brush against her exposed breast. For all her rage and discomfort, Sakura knew it was either Sai to put it on or the someone else probably less kind. She was inexperienced with such intimate moments, even at 22. It was humiliating for this to happen and she willed the tears away. She swallowed her pride and allowed it, daydreaming of a day when she could beat him for seeing her so exposed.

Following this was the yukata. Sai uncrumpled the dark cloth and held it ready for her. He seemed to feel nothing, not embarrassment nor lust as he dressed her and for this Sakura was grateful. The last thing she needed was his inappropriate comments that he so routinely made as a passing joke.

"Allow me to fix your hair Sakura-san," a warning that he would touch her again, almost like coaxing a scared animal. With a swift brush at the nape of her neck, Sai lifted and pulled the long hair out, its pastel pink a stark contrast against the crimson of her clothing. Seeing that Sakura hadn't pounced on him yet, Sai meandered around to her front again to tie the obi sashes about her waist and then move to her back to tug on the obi and form it into a bow. "Breath out" Sai instructed with a gentle tone, and cinched the obi as tight as possible, giving her a more delicate frame. His artistic eyes saw invisible wrinkles here or there and smoothed them out while Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was a skeleton wrapped in pretty paper, a present half dead to deliver to the Daimyo's son. Eyes looked as though they had sunk into her skull, normal jade irises were a dull green, lacking any fire. The long hair reached her mid back and fell in damp waves across the crimson fabric of cranes and flowers.

Before she could make a snarky remark about her current state, Ino emerged from the connecting room, the blonde locks up in a low bun and subtle makeup.

"Oh, thank you Sai! Her obi is perfect." Ino thanked as she glanced Sakura over. With everything checking out, Sakura was led back to the connecting room for her hair and makeup and then they would be off.

The late summer heat was finally beginning to disappear and refreshing autumn breezes brought with them a slight chill that yukatas had a hard time keeping out. If it wasn't for the travel cloaks Sakura would have caught a cold long ago, but the travel was easy on the merchant's road to the imperial palace. Every now and then a cart or stranger would pass them with a polite bow, their dress and entourage making the ladies seem more important then they actually were. Guards from ANBU walked along side Sakura since she was technically the flight risk even with her chakra blocked.

They began their journey in the dark hours of the morning, perhaps 5 when the dew had just kissed the morning grass from the long, chilly night. Sakura and Ino had lost Sai soon after Sakura went to get her hair done in the low bun, it seemed he was not required for the remainder of their travels. Instead, they were accompanied by 5 ANBU guards, one being the man who put her chakra seal on her. His silence was appreciated, but Sakura did not enjoy having him accompany her for this trip. As they left and began the trek to the palace, Sakura began to notice that more and more ANBU were meeting up with their small group along the way, by the time they reached the halfway mark of the trip their company had reached 20 total all masked and silent beside Ino who was chatty as ever.

She caught Sakura up to speed on everything she was legally allowed to know about Konoha now. It seemed as thought everyone, for the time being, was safe. Most were protected by the clans, however Tenten seemed to find temporary protection within the Hyuga as a weapons trainer for the clan's children and recent academy graduates. Naruto was the only one missing, deemed "rogue" along with Tsunade, Shizune, and Jiraiya. It was rumored that had planned an assassination on the elders so that they may take complete control over Konoha, which was a desperate attempt on Danzo's part to clear his name.

"What about Kakashi-Sensei? Where is he in all of this?" Sakura asked, concern written on her face.

"Well you should look underneath the underneath." Ino winked with a smirk.

Sakura looked directly under her feet, a force of habit if nothing else. Only the road looked back at her. With a glance around she spotted a silver haired spike among the crowd of guards, her heart missed a beat. As if he sensed her looking, the intimidating ANBU looked directly at her and did a salute, just as Kakashi had done in her childhood, she could hear the silent "yo" that he was surely mouthing behind the mask.

Her confidence was boosted immediately, but why would Danzo allow both Ino and Kakshi out of the village with Sakura? Her mind tried to wrap around all the possibilities; Sakura should have researched Danzo more, maybe it would give her more insight as to why he did things the way he did.

Sakura was brought out of her musing by a rough hand clamping down on her shoulder. She winced in pain but turned to acknowledge her handler. It was the ANBU who did her chakra seal, he towered over her body in a way that was anything but friendly.

"We will be arriving soon and you're to behave. No talking, unless it is in praise or thanks. And absolutely no violence or threats. Lord Danzo and Ino-san have pulled a lot of strings to get you here and it would be a shame if we had to permanently shut down your chakra reservoirs." His threat loomed above her head, something Sakura would have never put up with if it had happened prior to the three-day civil war. His beady eyes could be seen through the eye holes of the mask, daring her to make one wrong move. Ino watched out of the corner of her eye as the entire group stopped to watch the events unfolding before them.

"Shinji-san," She began gently "I believe she understands you perfectly fine, she's not a child." Shinji kept his hand firmly on the shoulder, squeezing a little extra harder than necessary and reminding Sakura of the previous hurt he had brought her.

"Ino-san, this kunoichi is- "

"Is my best friend, Tsunade-sama's apprentice, slayer of Sasori of Akatsuki, and has a renowned temper that you are certainly provoking right now." Ino daintily turned toward him with a disapproving gaze "Please take your hand from her, hasn't she been a model shinobi thus far? I promise I'll explain to her the delicate matters of this mission, now if you'll allow us a moment."

Sakura stared at the offending appendage bluntly until it was removed, how DARE someone touch her like that. She might be a tool for the village, but she would not be handled like one so carelessly. Sakura had leveled battle fields at the mere insult or threat to her well being, she's destroyed mountains and forests from her infamous strength, and this _man_ was one step from being thoroughly humbled with taijutsu if he touched her one more time.

Ino, sensing the rising anger looped her arm with Sakura's and the group began walking again down the road into the coming sunset, a distinct shape on the horizon coming into view: The imperial palace of fire.

"Sakura there may be a detail that has been left out…I might have lied…"

"You? Lie? Nonsense, you would never lie." Sakura scoffed with sarcasm, it felt nice to relax a little with Ino, despite being in the midst of a miniature ANBU army.

Ino's second hand gave a pinch into Sakura's exposed forearm. "I've pulled a lot of strings for this operation to work and I need a little help, ok? I've…..well…. you remember Dan?"

"What does Tsunade's love life have to do with this?"

"Youretheirchild" Ino stated in one breath, so fast that Sakura had to think for a second before she understood what Ino said.

It clicked eventually, "You can't be serious." Sakura said blank faced.

It wasn't necessarily insulting, but to use her mentor's dead lover in this plot seemed a little dirty to Sakura, one in which she was not thrilled about.

"What about my parents? Surely someone will mention that this is not true? That I'm not Tsunade's child by blood? Why change my lineage for your operation?" Sakura questioned as they approached the palace, its white walls and teal roofing striking an imposing shadow over their group.

"Royalty wanted only the best and rumors were circling about you, how you came to be, why Tsunade returned so suddenly to become Hokage and took you as an apprentice. It's not true, you and I know that, but Danzo could kill a civilian much easier than he could kill the daughter of a Hokage."

The weight of the words hurt Sakura and Ino could see that. She had fought so long to prove her worth since she was not from a famous ninja clan. The blood, sweat, and tears as she spent hours on those training ground and in the scrolls studying everything about the body and science. And now her entire worth was determined by the fact that she was supposedly Tsunade's illegitimate daughter.

It stung, but Ino might have saved her life.

The gates opened when the ground arrived. The walls were easily 30 feet tall and capable of providing a barrier from physical attacks, however, with chakra they were easy to scale if need be. Inside the group walked towards a lovely courtyard of impeccable design, fountains arose from stone statues and a paved pathway led the group towards the palace steps, a royal dignitary stood at the top glancing down at the ground over the bridge of his nose.

"Welcome," his voice boomed in the darkening air "I am Sumii Yasuhiro, right hand of the Daimyo. You must be exhausted from your travels; our fine maids and servants will lead you to your quarters where you may freshen up before dinner." Yasuhiro exalted loudly. He was a stout man with a rotund stomach that fit his royal robes oddly. Graying hair speckled the top of his head where Sakura could see it from underneath the tall black columnar hat he wore. He looked plain at best, but age had wrinkled his face and brought about a sense of wisdom to him.

Ino and Sakura were gently pushed to the front to lead the group, it would do no good for Tsunade's "daughter" to walk last in line. Sakura had always felt as though she never possessed the finer traits of being a kunoichi, but as she and Ino walked in step with each other up the stair case she felt powerful for the first time since her capture. Both women held themselves with the poise of an aristocrat, eyes hooded, chin up, shoulders squared, spine straight.

Upon reaching the last steps they bowed in unison to their host Yasuhiro, their stream line grace was one that looked perfect to all seeing it. He bowed back in an elegant manor, however, deeper than the ladies had done. They were considered nobles after all.

"You must be the fair Sakura I've read so much about, you have your mother's hair." Yasuhiro said to Ino.

"Unfortunately, no, I am Sakura-san's assistant and personal guard, Yamanaka Ino. But I am pleased to finally meet your acquaintance." Ino simpered with a dainty voice.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry for the misunderstanding Sakura-san," Yasuhiro stated with an apology "Please forgive my impudence. Yes, I can see it in….. your eyes though, Tsunade-sama's personality lives in your eyes." Yasuhiro said as he adjusted his glasses. Sakura scoffed in her mind _"Doesn't want to mention the pink hair, does he? My eyes? Really?! That was the resemblance, I'll show him some resemblance, just give me my chakra."_

As the remainder of the group walked up the stair case, Sakura and Ino were led inside by Yasuhiro, the twin dragon double doors opening to reveal the palace's internal beauty. Marble lined everything, and the ceiling displayed an intrigant design of a dragon circling many different birds. His bright red eyes seemed to look into Sakura's soul, knowing she did not belong under his roof like the true royalty that lived here.

Various servants appeared with light snacks and drinks while the head maid spoke with Shinji about rooms and how to access the many different locations within the castle. Mochi, dango, and tasty fruits were offered to Sakura and Ino as they listened to Yasuhiro talk about the history of the palace. Room arrangements were made and the various ANBU were led away until all that remained were Ino, Sakura, Shinji, and Kakashi in the elegant entry room. Hurried steps echoed from somewhere within the palace, getting louder as the seconds ticked by. All the ninja in the room could hear it, and their curiosity seemed obvious to Yasuhiro.

"That must be the Daimyo's son, Lord Haru-sama. He's been impatiently waiting for your arrival all day. I dare say he might have skipped his evening diplomacy briefing if he's wandering the halls at this hour." The stout man said with a slight pang of annoyance in his voice.

The sounds were coming from the dark corridor just across the large entry floor and within seconds two distinct figures could be outlined in the darkness.

"I've been waiting for this moment all of my life, Sakura-san." The first voice echoed, its deep octave sounded seductively of melting chocolate on Sakura's ears, "If I had known it would take you this long to reach my palace I would have personally stolen you away from Konoha much sooner, I'm a rather impatient man I suppose."

Sakura glanced at Ino, who wiggled her eyebrows and nudged her with her elbow to respond while grinning. _"Oh, Kami she's going to keep me up all night talking about this man, damn it Ino calm your hormones now is not the time."_

"I'm sorry we kept you waiting so long Haru-sama, I was recovering in Konoha and had just received news that your father had sent for me. I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but I'll be sure to work hard so I may make up lost time for the healthcare project." Sakura stated with a low bow, this was true royalty and he should be treated as such. Lord knows how prissy the Lords get when they aren't addressed properly.

The room was deathly silent as Sakura rose from her bow, a silence she knew normal palaces generally did not hold. When her eyes rose to Haru-samas face Sakura felt faint, it was as if the floor had dropped from underneath her feet and she was in free fall. Ino tensed and Kakashi-sensei made a move to get around Sakura, only Shinji seemed oblivious to the fact that Deidara of Iwa was strutting towards them in the royal robes of fire.

"Healthcare project? I'm sorry I'm not entirely sure what that would be," 'Haru' explained with an apologetic smile, "your group is here to discuss our marriage plans. We're to be wed Friday and its terribly hard work doing this alone."

AHHHH don't kill me! Also, this is a rather quick update for me to do. I'm a college student and I'm (hopefully) working towards medical school so academics come first! This is just a little way for me to procrastinate 😉


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I still dont own Naruto

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There were very few normal things in Sakura's life, but at the moment she wasn't sure what was odder: That a Deidara twin existed in this world or the fact her was making plans about her marriage to him.

The tense atmosphere seemed to slightly simmer down. Marriage? All three Konoha ninja paused before launching into the defensive positions.

"I don't want to appear rude, Lord 'Haru'." Kakashi started with a slight exaggeration on Haru-sama's name, it seemed he was fully aware of the potential Akatsuki as well "but Sakura-san is not here for a marriage contract, she's hardly 22 and a Kunoichi of her caliber is needed for many other duties for her village." He finished, eyes intently watching Lord Haru. Even without the Sharingan exposed, the copy nin was more than capable of reading through a person's motives.

Haru had a confused look on his face "I don't understand, I have the scroll right here from Danzo-sama. My personal body guard has been in direct contact with Konoha for weeks now about our arranged marriage, come Ichirou, please present the scroll to Sakura-san's guards."

A plain, dark haired man had followed Lord Haru into the great hall, his eyebrows furrowed in a scowl as he produced the scroll and looked it over.

"Hai hai, Danzo-sama's scroll states that there is to be a marriage. He has provided the Great House of Nakamura with Sakura Senju in exchange for political balance and rest for the Country of Fire." His dark brown eyes searched Sakura's emeralds, frown firmly in place "Are you not Sakura Senju? I doubt he sent the wrong pink haired kunoichi."

"I am, however there seems to be a miscommunication, he never told me it was for marriage. I-I was only alerted yesterday that I would be coming here, and it was for a medical cause." Sakura felt her skin cool, her heart beat ringing in her ears. Surely…..Surely Danzo wouldn't have pulled something like this on her, right? The pinkette looked to Ino, who seemed to be cautiously aware that Lord Haru represented one of the most wanted men in the world. Nervous aqua eyes looked back at her-

"This has been Danzo's plan all along, Ino-san I thought you were to catch her up on _all_ the details, you helped plan this entire thing from the very beginning or am I mistaken?" Shinji gruffed.

Ino straightened from her defensive stance, determining the confused Lord Haru was not the most prominent threat at the moment "I was, I've been in charge of the entire operation, but this is not right" She looked to Ichirou "I'm sure you saw my initial scroll proposing a meeting and arranging today's date for our arrival? I've been in contact with you since the first of September after the civil unrest began in Konoha." Ino calmly stated, her face showing confusion as well. Sakura was on edge, but Ino was not the ditzy heiress that many believed her to be, her tactics and strategy rivaled even Shikamaru's. Sakura's life was literally in Ino's hands right now.

"Yes, but Danzo-sama has been in contact as well. We would always receive two scrolls at the same time, his insisting on a marriage. When he offered the hand of Sakura Senju the Daimyo was thrilled. Such a lovely woman would produce many strong heirs for his son Lord Haru." Yasuhiro proudly stated.

Sakura's face matched her hair, its bright pink an abrupt change from the ghostly white it was just moments before. Lord Haru chuckled at the sudden change in his fiance's skin tone.

"Sakura-san, you really shouldn't be so bashful!" His chocolate brown eyes laughed.

"Gomen, Lord 'Haru'." She bit out a bit more forcefully than she wanted "you remind me of someone I've met before-"

"Is he handsome? I would hate to have to fight for your love and attention, but I shall should I need to ward off your other suitors!" Lord Haru interrupted, his joke more important than Sakura finishing what she needed to get off her chest.

"No, no I assure you no one's fighting for my hand," her cold face calculating what she wanted to say "You remind me of a certain missing-nin, a Deidara of Iwa perhaps? Are you related to him?" Kakashi immediately looked to Sakura, his rapid head turn must have put strain on his neck. The entire room stilled, did the future Lady of Fire just accuse the Daimyo's son of being a criminal?

 _"Kami Sakura, that was not tactful at all."_

Then as quickly as it stilled the room erupted in noise.

"How dare you!" Shinji grabbed Sakura by the arm and turned her 180 degrees to face his wrath "You dare insult the first son?!" He activated the chakra blocking seal and a trail of lava felt as if it was trying to claw its way out of her. Behind Sakura there was arguing between the Daimyo's right hand, Yasuhiro, and Kakashi. It sounded as if Ino was consoling Lord Haru, but Sakura couldn't be sure. The pain and burning of having Shinji attack her body with the seal stole her attention and she fell to the floor with a sharp cry.

"This is not how today is supposed to go, we should have had everything sorted before meeting, this is why we only deal with _true_ royals!" Yasuhiro stated with an annoyed huff. Ino immediately left Lord Haru to kneel next to Sakura on the floor where she was curled into a ball. Her faint black lines now boldly contrasting against her pale skin. It seemed the seal only truly showed itself once activated.

"What is the meaning of this? Explain to me the lines on her body!" Lord Haru yelled in anger. Sakura could not see him, her eyes were shut tight to try and gain control on the pain.

"They are for your protection and mine, Lord. Sakura….is not fond of being in an arranged marriage and certain precautions are necessary. She's inherited her mother's strength and would bring destruction to your home the moment she decided to escape. Sakura truly is a beauty and will bring you strong, handsome sons if you give her the chance, but I'm afraid for the time being the seal is necessary for her cooperation." Shinji defended, not once glancing at Sakura shaking on the ground.

Kakashi had had enough of seeing his precious kunoichi in pain, he stooped down and gently picked her still form off the polished floor. She was always his favorite, she was Rin reincarnated and wished to protect her, but it seemed that no matter what he did she was always getting the short stick in life.

"Lord Haru-san, I apologize for Sakura-san's rudeness. She's had a long trip here and the past few weeks have been a strain on her. If you will have us, then I know she'll come around and be a perfect wife for you." Kakashi tried to sooth the situation at hand. The man before may look similar to the Akatsuki, but no one in the palace held chakra in their body besides the Konoha ninja in their rooms and the four of them in the great hall. If this was the real Lord Haru, then Sakura had potentially just squandered her only chance to escape Danzo. He sighed as he adjusted her in his arms, He had seen too many of his precious people die, he would sooner kill himself than see Sakura dead, she and Naruto were the last lights in his life.

Lord Haru shook his head with a soft grin "I've seen Tsunade's temper before and I thought I knew what I was getting into. I'm sure she and I will bond better after she rests, until then please follow Yasuhiro to her room. You're all more than welcome to stay as long as you need to feel comfortable that I'm not a murderer." He finished with a chuckle and he turned around and walked with Ichirou out of the entry hall towards the garden exit, he needed to cool down and reassess his situation.

When Lord Haru was out of ear shot, Yasuhiro turned to Shinji, his irritation predominant "The young Lord does not enjoy tricks and the seal you have on his future _wife_ will only harm our delicate situation. I demand you remove it at once and find a different way to contain her."

"Unless I die that is not possible sir," Shinji addressed the round, angry man. "There are many different seals one could use, but with her Byakugō a more extreme seal is needed, and she left us with no choice. I apologize for this inconvenience Yasuhiro-san." And with a bow Shinji left Ino and Kakashi to deal with Sakura while he left to find his room.

"I suppose there's no way around it," Yasuhiro said to no one in particular "come, I will take you to your rooms. Ino-san, do you know if there is a way to hide those marks? I don't want rumors being spread that the royal family has to enslave their women for marriage."

Ino walked up the stairs behind Yasuhiro, a hand glowing in healing chakra on Sakura's forehead "I'm unsure, Sakura is the right person to ask. She studied Naruto's seal forever and read more advanced scrolls on the topic than I."

It was well past sunset when they finally arrived at Sakura's room. Kakashi had noticed her shaking recede as she entered a deep slumber while they walked the corridors, the tiny kunoichi from team 7 had transformed into a feared and respected woman. He was convinced she would die before she even reached the chunin exams or hopefully give up on the shinobi life before that and yet here she was, a medic renowned for her ability and a kunoichi feared for her battle front prowess. _"You went and made a name for yourself and unfortunately that's exactly why I can't protect you this time Sakura."_ She had enemies; too many to count and powerful ones at that. Sacrificing her happiness and going through with this marriage might be the only thing to save her life.

"Sakura-san shall reside her until the wedding night," Yasuhiro stated as he pushed open an ornate door "and then she will be expected to activity participate in her duties as Fire Lady. Ino-san, I trust you will control your friend and set her straight. Her behavior today was most unbecoming." Yasuhiro sniffed as he turned on his heel and exited to the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Kakashi, what-what do we do…." It seemed the stress had finally caught up to Ino as she wiped away a lone tear. She never wanted this for Sakura, she was so focused on saving her friend she had underestimated Danzo's ability to interfere with plans.

Kakashi laid his kunoichi on the large plush bed, her body instinctively curling into the cushions surrounding her. He moved the hair that escaped her bun out of her face, the soft strands reminded him of her name sake. What could be done? She would rather die than submit like this under Danzo's will and escape was impossible.

"It's possible that this is the only thing that can be done Ino..." Kakashi sighed "Take this time and rest up, I doubt she's going to dinner tonight. I'll grab all of us some food, I'm sure I saw a maid in the hallway who could help us."

Kakashi strolled out of the room while Ino began undressing for the evening, it seemed the servants had arranged for her bags to arrive here with Sakura's. The shabby looking cot at the foot of the bed seemed to be for her, but Ino scoffed at the idea as she took down her hair. Sakura and she were best friends, an idea foreign to the prudish royalty here. Ino would cuddle with Sakura and pretend it was like the good old days when they were just girls playing ninja and having sleepovers. A time so long ago, in a past where there was no pain nor heartbreak nor death.

A knock on the door made Ino jump, then curse herself for being so childish. _"Don't let your guard down, Danzo has screwed you over once already and it wouldn't be a surprise if he tried to assassinate you or Sakura while you're here."_

She walked to the door, a chakra scalpel in hand should it be an unwelcome guest.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but may I come in to wish Sakura-san goodnight?" Haru stood sheepishly at the door, only Ichirou was with him, looking bored and somewhat out of place "I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I truly mean only the best for Sakura-san. I heard she wasn't attending dinner so Kakashi will be meeting us up here with a cart from the feast. I thought maybe dining casually would be more Sakura-san's style?"

Ino had to admit, he might look like a villain, but he certainly didn't behave like one. His long dark blonde hair was long enough to brush his hips and looked as if each split end was trimmed every day before he began his royal duties. Chocolate brown eyes gazed beyond Ino to the bed where his intended lay, curiosity in his eyes. Pale, blemish free skin complemented his entire look and was brought out by the deep red of his robes. Sakura could have done much worse for a forced marriage….

"I would also like to examine Sakura-san's chakra seal, if you would permit me. It will not do for the next Lady of Fire to be scarred by such ugly marks."

Now that put a frown on Ino's face. "Hai hai, come in, it's your house after all." She grumped as she held the door for them and side stepped out of the way. She was done with the formality of everything, it was just so dull.

They made their way to Sakura, Ichirou bowing slightly out of politeness while Haru made a beeline for the bed. Ino softly shut the door and watched them like a hawk as she approached the group. Enemies could be anywhere.

"She's so dainty, I've heard many stories about this woman!" Haru stated "Mountains have crumbled under her tiny, little hands…just look at them!" While Haru marveled about Sakura's hand, Ichirou made a move to sit on the bed by Sakura's head, seemingly intent on learning about her seal.

"This diamond- is this removeable or is it part of the seal?" He asked Ino.

She snorted, a sound that seemed to startle Haru "You can try, but I'm positive Sakura will murder you if she finds that gone. It's the Byakugō. She stored chakra in that exact spot for years in order to gain it. Tsunade is the only one to achieve such a technique besides her…."

Haru seemed puzzled by this, his eyebrows drawing closer together in thought "She's too delicate-"

Ino interrupted him with a laugh "She is delicate like a **bomb** , not like her name sake. Heh, say that to her when she's conscious and you're going to be thankful for Ichirou protecting your hide." Ino sat at the foot of the bed and twiddled with a piece of hair, neither men posing much of a threat now that she knew how clueless they truly were about Sakura.

A few minutes passed by and Ino grew bored watching her hair and the men play with Sakura's giant forehead. She got up and began putting things away in the many drawers. When she went to hang up a plain ceremonial yukata in the closet she audibly gasped. Inside was a pure white kimono made of the highest quality silk. Golden cranes were expertly embroidered throughout its design, while a bright red edged the neck line and inside pf the sleeves. Its trailing sleeves touched the floor and just staring at it Ino knew it would leave a gorgeous trail behind Sakura as she walked down the aisle on her wedding day.

"There should be a second kimono in your room next door, I was told you're fond of purple." Haru grinned at Ino's admiration of the kimono.

Now that got Ino's attention, why would a future Daimyo care about what a handmaid wore?

"I'll have to bring it in here, I'm sorry Haru-sama-"

"Please Ino-san, san will do or kun if you prefer. The formality around here is enough to choke me sometimes."

"Haru-san, Sakura and I are very close, practically sisters. I would rather be in here for her last week as a single woman." Ino was shocked by his display of informality. His efforts to make this painless were appreciated.

As Ino was putting away some toiletries in the attached bathroom, she took note of the monstrous tub/ swimming pool that she and Sakura had access to. She would have to utilize that later once the boys left.

Kakashi arrived with the food as Ino was finishing her inspection of the bathroom, a lone eyebrow arched at the way Haru and Ichirou hovered over Sakura's prone form on the bed. Clothing still in place, nothing odd or threatening besides the strange scroll Ichirou was consulting as he examined Sakura's seal.

"Ah Kakashi-san, Sakura is surely something else! I'm going to say something controversial, but I think our introduction went well!" Haur… was certainly something else, Kakashi thought as he sweat dropped. "Now, I see the maids set you up with enough food to feed an army, why don't we discuss some of the finer details of the marriage here? Away from prying eyes?"

They set a tea table with an arrangement of foods and dined, making sure to save a proportion for Sakura should she wake in the night. Ino talked about her likes and dislikes, with Kakashi cutting in every now and then. They avoided questions too personal for them to answer, things they deemed a violation of Sakura's privacy. Eventually the two men piled the leftovers and plates onto the cart and wished the group goodnight somewhere around midnight and left, Haru's slight laugh echoing down the halls at something Ichirou must have said.

Ino was just finishing her matcha tea and then crawled into bed next to Sakura, ignoring Kakashi's weak protests that she should brush her teeth. She was simply too tired to care about anything other then finally sleeping.

And when the sun rose she would have wedding planning to accomplish because Kami knows Sakura wasn't going to do that.

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Alright yay or nay? IT WILL PICK UP IN SPEED SOON!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey so:

1.) I am SO sorry for the break, sorry it's midterms y'all! I also had a brief case of writter block, but I got over it!

2.) I made this extra long for ya

3.) Its all up here from here I promise, now I can get into my juicy idea muahahaahaha. My main idea for this story, the one I love the most, comes after this chapter so please stick with me!

And now, without further due, let us continue this story!

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Sakura awoke to the soft caw of a peacock in the distance, the morning light just beginning to filter in through the large window's curtains. Sakura tensed when she noticed another person in her bed, but one glance told her it wasn't the Daimyo's son. The warm blob next to her, hogging the blankets, must be Ino. Sakura allowed a tiny smirk to grace her face, leave it to her best friend to snuggle up next to her no matter the situation.

Sakura stepped out of bed and padded over to the open door that seemingly led to a bathroom. The monstrous "bathtub" in the center of the floor could easily be a marble lap pool, Sakura needed to remind herself to use that later, she deserved a long soak after the bullshit she's been through. Sakura padded her way to the sink and counter holding a wide variety of Ino's cosmetics. She peered through the contents of the bags in there to produce her toothbrush and comb, setting about her morning routine. The pinkette had just finished when she heard a slight knock and turned to be greeted by Kakashi waiting in the doorway, a smile in his eyes and arms crossing his black chest of ANBU armor. Unless he dressed earlier, it seemed that her sensei might not have slept at all.

"Good morning Sakura, are you feeling alright? I know Naruto's seals pained him when they were activated… we aren't sure about the side effects of yours yet…."

"I have a small headache, but that could be due to dehydration. I'm perfectly fine Kaka-sensei," She turned around and went back to brushing her pastel locks with the cheap comb "besides the fact I've been sent here to marry a stranger who will lock me away and destroy my career, I'm just peachy." Sakura bit as she stared at Kakashi in the mirror.

He visibly winced and walked into the bathroom with her, sadness evident in his eyes. He watched her in the mirror as she worked out the kinks in her hair. Even now, with the seal over her body and angry jade orbs glaring at the counter, he saw the tiny 12-year-old kunoichi from team 7. The little Sakura who would scream at the slightest thing and cry, but he also saw his treasured student who mastered chakra control instantly. His one and only daughter figure was angry at his decision to do this to her, and even though part of him felt guilty, he knew this was the only way to save her life from being extinguished.

"Sakura… I can't lose you too."

Sakura stopped brushing, allowing both of her arms to drop. She knew he had lost everyone important in her life, she could hardly blame him for taking such an extreme measure to ensure her life was protected, but still.

"I want to tell you to run away, I desperately want to tell you to go hide and never come back to Konoha," The older jounin continued "but he has men everywhere. I can't protect you if I can't see you. We need to see how this all goes… Haru-sama-"

"Don't you dare call Deidara 'Haru-sama'! He's the enemy! He's evil, He'll kill all of us!" Sakura exploded in a hushed voice.

"They look similar besides the eyes, but did you notice how he cowered behind his guard when everything happened? He came to check on you last night after everything. Haru-sama lacks… well honestly everything it would take to be a ninja, much less an s-class criminal."

Sakura considered this in her mind and moved away from the mirror to face Kakashi head on. Was it possible that her time in the dungeon made her paranoid? It wasn't uncommon for people to suffer acute episodes of mental impairment once they survived an interrogation with Ibiki.

"You're ANBU, Kaka-sensei. You told me to look underneath the underneath. What if it's a henge? Or Deidara's… um bribed Haru too henge as himself?" Even Sakura knew she sounded crazy, the royal family were non-chakra users. The only bet was that Deidara was henging or it was truly Haru.

Kakashi took a step into the bathroom and stared at Sakura with a calculating look "Who ever it is I didn't sense any chakra inside them. Give him a chance Sakura but use this as an espionage mission. Gather intelligence about the situation, learn more about 'Haru', but most importantly stay alive."

He was dead serious; any sense of kidding was long gone from the Copy Nin. She walked to Kakashi and put her head on his chest, his arms quickly coming to encircle around her petite frame. "I'll- I'll try to go through with Ino's plan." The defeat in her voice broke Kakashi, but for the time being it was for the best. He just needed time to plan and remove Danzo as a threat and if that meant killing him in a second coupe then so be it.

A yawn from the bedroom alerted Sakura that Ino was awake and probably ready to start the day. She gently removed herself from Kakashi's strong hold and plopped onto the bed with her best friend.

"So," Ino began with a grin "wanna go meet your fiancé officially or do you still want to mope around?"

"I hardly see the humor in this Ino," Sakura groaned with despair as Ino went to the closet to pick out clothes for the day. Sakura's protests died when Ino walked back to her with a new Yukata in hand.

"Honestly this is not ideal, I get it, but just work with us Sakura, we aren't against you." Ino huffed as she shooed Kakashi out of the room into the hallway. Once the pervert was gone, Sakura stripped and placed a navy blue yukata on her shoulders. It seemed the pain in her limbs was all but gone after her long rest from last night. Ino unfolded an obi and began tying it around Sakura forming an expert bow in seconds. "If you get married its not the end of the world, but if you die it could very well be the end of Kakashi and I's worlds." Ino was crying silently at this point, "I won't lose you Sakura. I can't lose you please just behave."

Sakura turned and hugged Ino as she sobbed, the weight of the situation seemed to crush her. Tsunade would want her to live, Naruto would want her to live, rookie 9 would want her to live, and even if that meant putting up with a fake marriage then Sakura would do it, for them.

Once Ino regained her composure, she got dressed and the girls walked with Kakashi to the great dining hall where they were to meet with her new fiancé. The halls seemed decorated with constant reminders of him, but it calmed Sakura's tension to see his face so many different times in so many different portraits. Not even Akatsuki could copy and replicate the aged art that lined the halls, perhaps it was just a terrible misfortune to look like a wanted criminal.

Her thoughts were interrupted when they came to the large dinning hall doors, their decorative gold dragons staring at Sakura as if to warn her to behave this time.

"Ready?" Ino whispered as Kakashi opened the door for the ladies.

A firm nod was all Ino got as a response, all eyes from the table were on Sakura and she did not enjoy the attention. It seemed they had just sat down and were in the process of being served decadent foods when they decided to barge in.

"Sakura-san," Haru started with a startled look "sit by me for this meal if you would like? I don't believe our introduction went as planned yesterday and I want to learn more about my fiancé…." Haru bowed slightly as Sakura approached the table, an obvious open seat to his left seemed to be her intended spot.

Remembering Ino's words just moment s ago Sakura put on her best smile and bowed back "I would be honored Lord Haru."

Once she accepted his invitation it seemed as if the whole table relaxed. A traditional breakfast was served, and tea was poured. Sakura kept her shoulders squared went to take a bite of her food, but a small cough caught her attention. She glanced towards Haru, his nervous smile greeted her eyesight.

"Um Sakura-san, it's a lovely day out and I thought perhaps we could take a stroll through the gardens? I uhm wished to learn more about you if that was ok." Worried warm brown eyes smiled at her.

Yeah perhaps this wasn't a criminal mastermind like she had previously thought…

Sakura was pulled from her absent thoughts when she felt a soft nudge on her side. Ino nodded her head towards the young Lord, apparently Sakura had remained in her thoughts for just a tad too long.

"Ah, yes of course Lord Haru-sama, it would be a lovely day for that." Sakura murmured as she straightened her posture to face him.

The moment she answered a smile brightened his face and all sense of nervousness disappeared. His long blonde locks were gracefully combed to stay behind his shoulders and excited brown eyes gazed at her with enthusiasm.

"Wonderful, would you be ready to go after breakfast? I'm sure we won't be missed from the wedding planning, your friend Ino-san has an exceptional eye for the latest autumn trends and she's approved of the pre-wedding festival kimono and bridal kimono as well! I hope its not too pushy, but royal traditions are very picky and Father insists you wear my late mother's wedding kimono so to honor her spirit at the ceremony." Sakura was saddened by the news that his mother had passed, but perhaps she could learn more about it on their walk.

Breakfast was eaten and there were lit bits of chatter that Sakura engaged in with Ino and Haru, they preferred to remain on lighter topics such as the medical field and Sakura's ideas for the healthcare system since these brightened her mood considerably. All talk about the wedding was left out for the remainder of morning meal, but Sakura knew it was not inescapable all together. Eventually they would need her consent and signatures to finalize her fate.

Haru stood from his place at the head of the table and moved slightly to help Sakura scoot out of her seat. Once she raised her self from the table, Ino and Kakashi were by her side in an instant. It looked like protocol to the untrained eye, however, their hesitancy to allow her near a stranger/suspected criminal eased some tension for Sakura.

Haru thought nothing of it and Sakura was not surprised. Royals were followed from day one with a bodyguard and it would be shocking to see Haru go anywhere without Ichirou shadowing his every step.

"Come, I have so many places I wish to show you! The cherry blossom tree will be your favorite, I'm sure of it." Haru grinned as he walked a calm pace out of the dinning hall.

They continued for nearly 15 minutes through the oldest garden Sakura had ever been through. The amount of ancient bonsai, trunks thick with age and weathering, were numerous and plentiful. A fragrant scent of poppies was somewhere nearby, but out of eyesight for now. As they walked side by side, Sakura's guards and Ichirou walked a few paces behind, just enough to allow privacy, but not nearly enough for an escape attempt or for any harm to come to the young couple. She was half tempted to turn around and glance at Ino for help; men had never really been her specialty, but she didn't want to appear intimidated or weak to the young Lord.

Before Sakura could speak in the mildly uncomfortable silence, they arrived at a half moon bridge that gave them passage over a koi stream and through dense willow branches so thick you couldn't see the other side. Haru made no indication that he intended to stop, but instead held his hand out for Sakura to grasp.

"Please be careful, it is a tad slick from the morning dew." She took his warm hand and noticed the lack of mouths on it, a trait she was sure the art nin could not mask should he want to. With a slight tug Haru pulled Sakura into the willow branch covering and disappeared from no and Kakashi's view.

She was about to tell him to let go, but the moment she turned around Sakura's mouth was stunned into silence. The old cherry blossom tree must have been from the beginning of time. Even thought it was not in its peak season the branches artistically wove through the air in a pattern of utmost elegance. The trunk of the tree stretched into the air for more than 30 feet and was sturdily rooted into the ground, surely tapping into the water from the koi stream. Haru went to sit at a stone bench and wiped away the old blossoms on it so Sakura could join him.

"Its not as breathtaking right now but come spring it will be a true beauty. I've been told that it was the first plant to every be placed in the palace gardens so long ago. Supposedly, the Daimyo of water had offered it as a peace offering, along with one of his daughters, to the royal fire Daimyo. The daughter was angry to be given away as a prize, but she obeyed her father's wishes and came bitterly to our kingdom. Unfortunately, she died in childbirth before the tree could even bloom but it took strength and grace and rooted itself deep within our land. Its become a treasured prize for my household ever since…"

"It's a lovely specimen, certainly worth being valued for its beauty."

"Just as you are, Sakura-san." Haru dropped his gaze to her, his height and bulk had daunted Sakura suddenly "I know you are not here willingly, I've made sure to give Danzo-san an earful about that, but we are still stuck in this marriage… I don't mean to threaten you, you're a powerful, intelligent, awe inspiring woman who has brought down many powerful men of higher power than myself. Please, just allow me the chance to prove to you I'm worthy of your company, I have dreamed about the day I could get to know you better since you first made a name for yourself." His leaned down gently as he held one of Sakura's powerless hands in his, hooded brown eyes signaled his intentions as he neared her face with his.

Sakura was lost in the moment and stunned from his proclamation. Rosy lips closed in on her own, but with a deep scarlet blush Sakura gently turned her face. "Har-Haru-sama, I'm I'm not so bold to be able to kiss you yet." She confessed with embarrassment. Haru huffed a small breath of air, but not in a disapproving manner.

"You're a respectable woman Sakura-san, I am ashamed I could not control myself! Please do not hate me, I am known to jump the gun from time to time…" Haru quickly moved away, but continued to softly stroke her small hands.

He truly was a gentleman and Sakura was a sucker for a good gentleman. Wanting to escape their embarrassing situation she quickly changed the topic from her to him "What are your plans as Daimyo once you gain rule? Will you follow your father or pave your own path?" She smiled and squeezed his hand in encouragement.

"Ah! Well I hope to build more on some of his plans, such as the health care system, but I've had an interest in opening more museums and galleries for our citizens to enjoy. You see the arts are not as appreciated as they should be. It shouldn't be that only the highest class can access these forms of education, no I wish to allow for all to have access."

They remained on the topic for a while and switched back and forth to learn more about the other. It wasn't until Sakura's stomach rumbled that she realized the sun was falling towards the horizon of the trees, indicating it was nearly dinner time.

Haru chuckled and poked her stomach with a finger. "Come blossom, I can't have you starving while in my care, I would look like a terrible husband to be!" Haru joked as he pulled her up with him.

They walked back towards the palace on a different path than they had come. This section of the gardens was dedicated to the royal medic's personal medicinal plants and more than once did Sakura stop to poke and prod the various vegetations. With an eye roll Haru tugged her along gently and laughed at her inquisitive nature. Perhaps he wouldn't be so bad after all….

Sakura daydreamed about what her wedding day might look like and her life in the palace, finally coming to terms that she couldn't escape this and it might not be so bad. They talked throughout dinner and Haru requested she stay up late and read with him in the library as Ino made a few finalized touches on the current wedding plans, "I would like to add in my input and hopefully get to know your best friend as well. If she's important to you then I will do what ever I can to keep her in our life." His commitment to keeping Ino within the palace surprised Sakura, but perhaps he was worried that if Ino returned home that Sakura would worry for her safety. It was a sharp reminder that nothing was safe while Danzo was ruling. Konoha was no longer home like it had been and the dark cloud of sadness once again returned to Sakura.

Days passed and before Sakura realized it, it was time for the pre-wedding ball and festivities. Her long trailing kimono was adorned with lovely mandarin ducks flying in graceful sweeps around each other. Their dedication to their partners made them popular for wedding gowns, but Sakura still had butterflies about the symbolism behind their meaning. She really was going to commit to this wasn't she? Earlier in the day Sakura had thrown a fit about her undergarments that were waiting for her as she exited her bath. It seemed that the royal family thought Sakura would spend the night with her fiance after the festivities died down, "as it was tradition". The underwear, or lack there of, would befit a cough cough lady of the night, better than a blushing bride to be. Their pink jewels weighed Sakura down and could honestly pass for ANBU chest armor if she was henging as a whore.

Her forehead burned her as she felt Shinji pulse a warning through her chakra seal, it seemed she looked sour and he had noticed. Sakura visually brightened her face and smiled kindly to each new figure that passed her. Royals and political figures from all around gathered at the palace grounds to celebrate, the only noticeably absence was Gara and the sand siblings since they were long suspected of hiding Naruto and other Konoha refugees. Guests gathered into the main ballroom with its huge vaulted ceiling and numerous chandeliers so that they could enjoy the lovely orchestra playing a joyful tune all while dancing and drinking the night away. Each passing figure Haru would silently whisper to Sakura their name and position, learning that her keen ninja skills were not all lost once the seal was placed on her forehead. No one remarked about her strange appearance nor pink hair, however, her reputation precedes her in many parts of the world and they might be fearful of her temper should they insult her.

The music continued and not wanting to waste the evening with boring greetings Haru swung Sakura onto the dance floor with glee. His steps obviously practiced and were excellent in covering Sakura's clumsy movements. Her training as a Kunoichi never branched into the finer things such as dancing at formal events and it was only in this moment did she truly regret that.

"You're light as a feather, but Kami you can sure step down with those heels." Haru laughed as she spun her again to the tune. The dance floor was crowded with dignitaries who had made their way to the palace for the morning wedding tomorrow, at one point Sakura thought she saw Mei-sama from Mist, but it was just another gorgeous woman attending the event.

Haru seemingly noticed her distracted gaze and brought a hand up to her chin, lifting her face as gently as possible. His brown orbs held concern and for a brief moment Sakura thought she felt loved by him.

"My blossom, you seem worried… Don't let your thoughts ruin your night, this party is to celebrate us and the peace we will bring to the country! What can I do to ease you?" He whispered everything in a caring tone. Nervously Sakura blushed at his intimate touch and glanced away, what would help her right now? Something familiar she supposed, but she felt as though she'd told him everything under that cherry blossom tree days ago.

"Tell me a story, love. One about your life, I want to know you more." Haru leaned to whisper in her ear. Sakura turned beet red and managed to make eye contact with Ino across the floor as she danced with a high-ranking samurai. She winked at Sakura before spinning further into the crowd and disappearing from sight.

"A-a story?" Sakura whispered nervously, internally cursing her weak voice "I'm not sure I have many of those…"

"Ah my little blossom finally speaks! Yes, I fell in love with adventure and stories when I was a child, please I would love to hear about your fights and travels as a kunoichi." Haru pulled his face away from Sakura's ear and leaned closer with a longing in his eyes, his firm grip on her hand led her into another twirl before returning Sakura to his side. His blonde hair never seemed to stray out of place, staying perfectly tamed as it swished behind him.

"Well, you know most of it from the records… I'm not sure I have much to contribute, I'm sorry…There's plenty with Naruto though, he definitely has a lot of humorous adventures-" Sakura said, slowly breaking out of her shell. If she was doomed to marry him tomorrow then she might as well get comfortable now. Haru paused and smiled as he thought, he truly did have the most beautiful face Sakura had ever seen.

"I am feeling most selfish tonight and I don't know if my heart could stand to hear you speak so lovingly about Naruto-san and your undying loyalty to him." Haru made a dramatic face of woe and sorrow, one completely theatrical to show Sakura he was (mostly) kidding "I know! There are rumors you fought an Akatsuki once. And before you protest or tell me to go read the reports, I want you to know that's absolutely no fun at all. I want to know **_your_** story about the fight, without the formalities or boring parts that are in the official report. To think you defeated such a dangerous criminal! That's truly astonishing and it would be a shame for such a tale to go untold, right?"

Sakura shouldn't have been surprised, it was a curiosity for most people, but for Lord Haru to want to know something so violent and terrifying….then again, palace life had been dull ever since Sakura got there and she could imagine that after his 25 years living in the palace he probably craved any excitement he could get.

"Well…It was… petrifying to be honest. We had discovered the location of the jinchuriki extraction the Akatsuki were doing, but there were only two Akatsuki once we gained entrance inside the cave. One man flew away on a giant bird and Kakashi and Naruto followed him, leaving Chiyo-sama and I to fight the other one." She could recall that day moment for moment, she still regularly woke up from nightmares about it and if she was going to be living with Haru then he might as well know what keeps her up at night.

"What was it like fighting him?" Haru pulled Sakura out of her thoughts, their light swaying made it easy for her to get lost in her memories.

She swallowed and looked into his deep brown eyes, curiosity evident "It was easily the most frightening moment of my life, I'm sorry to disappoint you Haru-san but I am not fearless. Konoha may have painted that picture, but I'm not the kunoichi that killed Sasori, it was Chiyo-sama. She performed the finishing move, I barely escaped with my life."

Haru's smile melted off his face, taking on a more serious tone "I disagree. It takes a very brave and skilled warrior to offer her body as a human puppet and destroy a poisonous puppet army the size of Sasori's. Without you Chiyo wouldn't have been able to destroy Sasori. You need to give yourself more credit than that. I'm sure- oh pardon me." Haru apologized to a couple that had bumped into them.

Alarm bells rung in Sakura's head.

No one knew Sakura offered herself as a tool, not even Tsunade.

No one knew about the poison army except the ANBU retrieval team, Kakashi, and Naruto.

"What's wrong _blossom_ ," his voice sickeningly sweet.

Sakura's calm façade must have failed and she cursed herself. The moment Sakura attempted to breath again the hand on her waist became forceful and the one on her hand captured her in an impossible grip. She jerked her eyes up to Haru's face only to see a predatory grin wipe away any trace of tranquility that had been there prior.

"You should see the look on your face right now," 'Haru' grinned a shit eating grin "I knew you would figure it out eventually, but I was hoping that brilliant little pink brain of yours would at least wait until after my wedding night, hmmm."

" _Deidara_ " Sakura's wrath was scarcely concealed "Where is the real Haru?" Sakura attempted to yank herself away from him, but under the royal robes he wore were the strengthened muscles of an s-class criminal and without her chakra she couldn't make the man budge.

"Ah, ah. You're going to put on that happy little face again or I'll happily blow this whole damn palace to the moon, hmmm." Deidara murmured into her ear as he opened the hand holding her own slightly for Sakura to see a tiny blob resting there, waiting for commands. She glared at him, refusing to take her eyes off the too close blonde hair resting against her cheek. To be in Akatsuki and be a bomber probably made a person slightly more crazy than normal and the last thing Sakura wanted to do was make him think she wasn't cooperating.

Deidara raised his head from her ear and shot her a dazzling grin "There, now isn't this cozy," He pulled her into his chest, smashing her breasts against his pectoralis muscles "You know they told me to be careful around you, that the little, scrawny, pinkie was intelligent, but I underestimated you."

"Who told you about the encounter? Why are _they_ so interested in getting me?" Sakura hissed in agitation, temper climbing to sky high levels "I don't know where Naruto is, bastard, he's disappeared and-"

"Oh we don't want the fox, we want _you_."

Sakura's heart stilled, and she was positive the last remaining color in her face left her. Her?

"For someone who developed an antidote to poison at 16 you sure are slow right now." Deidara casually insulted as he continued their dance. Her heart raced to allow the adrenaline to course through her blood. "Oh, my dear, perhaps you should take a seat, you wouldn't want to faint during the party, it would ruin our guest's fun!" and with an effortless jab from his left-hand Sakura felt the injection of a syringe into her back, its liquid providing a harsh burn as it traveled through the surrounding.

Sakura gave a startled gasp at the injection, but without her chakra should could do little to prevent it from spreading. Deidara winked at her and motioned for Yasuhiro who was walking along the wall. The portly man made his way onto the floor, gently pushing past the patrons as they enjoyed their dance.

"Yashuhiro, Sakura-san is not feeling well, I fear for her health. Perhaps you can escort her to Ichirou? He will make sure she's taken care of." Deidara took on a voice of concern professionally, shocking Sakura. He looked every bit like Haru in that moment, but the twinkle in his brown eyes practically screamed danger.

"Of course, Lord Haru, come now Sakura-sama, Ichirou is relatively well-known medic and would be more than happy to help you." Yasuhiro led Sakura away with an insistent arm on her back. A final glance at Deidara and he winked at her before disappearing into the crowd.

Sakura quickly looked forward seeing Ichirou make his way to her. Who was this man? Another Akatsuki? Or was Ichirou a real person just caught up in this mess? A flash of silver hair in the background made Sakura look past Ichirou to Kakashi, who's eyes conveyed everything Sakura needed to know.

They screamed danger.

Kakashi was not one for dancing, nor socializing unless absolutely necessary. Sure, he made a point to keep up with his friends and their lives, but the nobility in the room were not exactly his cup of tea. Yasuhiro and Shinji had both insisted he accept a dance with the plain, young Land of Tea heiress, but Kakashi feared if he turned his back on Sakura for even a moment then she would be whisked away into the chilly night by her ever present fiancé. He shook his head as he leaned against the wall more comfortably, the laughter and music surrounding him were pleasant but tonight was anything but that. He and Ino had failed to get Sakura out of the marriage and it was weighing on him. How would Rin have felt about all thi? Would she go through with it? Or would she have taken death.

 _"She died long before she could amount to what Sakura has become. Danzo would have just killed her. Clan-less ninja mean nothing to him."_

The dark thought ruined his mood as he watched Sakura sway with the blonde in the distance, she looked focused, but not happy with what was going on. Kakashi chuckled silently remembering that she had not received formal dance lessons, and this was probably her first experience with dancing. Even from this distance he could see her tiny eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she tried to avoid stepping on Haru-sama's toes. They were cute together, but his lack of intellectual interest in sciences would be a problem for Sakura in their future.

Kakashi stopped observing the pink bride to be when Ichirou silently settle against the wall next to Kakashi, both men seemingly taking a break from the atmosphere along the shadowy wall.

"Have you come to sulk with me or is there a date you're avoiding?" Kakashi casually said without facing Ichirou. A stranger passing by could have mistaken them for teammates or acquaintances by their lack of formality.

"No, it seems you're the one they're all asking about, I'm rather plain compared to the copy nin of Konoha." Ichirou smirked as he watched the crowd in front of them spin and twirl to the violins and piano playing in the corner. Kakashi took a glance out of the corner of his eye, not quite trusting the man to react to what he would say next.

"Oh, but I would argue that I pale in comparison to you, Itachi-san."

Itachi did not react, but his shoulders seemed to tense up, waiting for Kakashi to make a move. Both men, equally dangerous, knew what the other was capable of from their time in ANBU together. For years they had been sent out of squad missions ranging from espionage to assassination. Their Sharingan was a priceless tool for Konoha mission success.

"Sharp as ever Hatake-san." Itachi breathed stoically "It was reckless of me to recycle an old henge." Both men were tense internally, poised and ready for the other one's attack, but externally the remained casual. Kakashi glanced at Sakura and noticed a startled look on her face, one completely out of place from the atmosphere she was in. Something was wrong, and not only because Itachi was so casually conversing with Kakashi.

"You're here for Sakura, you wish to kill her-"

"So crude Kakashi-san, but wrong. We have no need for spilt blood tonight, she will remain with Haru-"

"You mean Deidara, the mad bomber." Kakashi interrupted with a slight bite in his voice. If Deidara was as insane as the Bingo books said, then there was very little chance tonight would end without a blood bath. Everything was crumbling, what little control Kakashi had over Sakura's situation was now demolished. If Akatsuki was involved, then he had lost all control.

"He's young and eccentric, but hardly a threat unless provoked. Your kunoichi is in good hands." Itachi sighed with a small huff of breath.

"Her temper is infamous."

Itachi looked towards where the pinkette was spinning around Deidara's hand, his face calm, but both men could see the panic in Sakura's eyes even from this distance.

"Hn." After years in ANBU together Kakashi could vaguely remember how to read Itachi's small noises. It was obvious this particular "hn" was displeased with the events unfolding before them and the malicious look in Deidara's eyes.

"Hatake-san," Itachi began as he pushed off the wall they were leaning on "I advise you do not come to look for her, Danzo is in charge of Konoha, no?" Kakashi's heart leaped into his throat, his breathing stopped. "Akatsuki has need for her skills, so please do keep ROOT away or there will be dire consequences." And with that Itachi made his way into the crowd towards a pale Sakura and jolly Yasuhiro.

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Sakura began to fidget in Yasuhiro's hold, afraid to discover which monster lay beneath the mask of Ichirou. She grabbed at the fingers on her back and yanked hard, ripping a pained cry from his mouth as Sakura turned tail and ran back onto the dance floor, away from Ichirou and hopefully towards Ino. She needed medical chakra now if she hoped to remove whatever substance had been injected into her backside.

Before she could even make it five steps there was a loud explosion and the ceiling quickly dropped towards the patrons of the grand hall. Monstrous sized chunks of ceiling and support beans rained from the heavens and the air grew thick with smoke. Screams were heard, and Sakura was knocked to the ground as people began to run. Quickly picking herself up, she narrowly avoided being smashed by the grotesque chandelier from above. Crystal flew everywhere as it smashed the floor and more screams were unleashed. The panic had finally set in for the event attendees and all were recklessly making their way to the exit. Sakura tried to hopelessly blend into the crowd when all of a sudden, she felt a new kind of fire burning through her veins, ripping past the seals set before them.

Her chakra was back.

She flooded her body with power, a green tint covering her frame. She searched the room for Ino and found her kneeling on the ground, a silver head in her lap. _"No, Kami no please."_ Sakura thought as she ran towards them at break neck speed, sliding on her knees as she dropped by their side. Kakashi had been hit hard in the head with part of the crumbling ceiling, his wound explaining the large amount of blood pooling around them.

Without saying anything Sakura began to heal him, forgetting about everything around them. She had only just gotten the chance to touch the wound with her chakra before Ino pushed her away, her own green chakra replacing hers.

"Run! Just fucking run Sakura, this is the only chance we have! Go!" Ino yelled as she knitted together the wound, not looking up at Sakura.

"Ino!"

"Damnit GO!" Ino screamed with tears rolling down her face. "Get out of here and get as far away as possible!"

"Deidara is Haru!" Sakura yelled back, hoping to get her friend to hear her "The Akatsuki, they'll kill you!"

"I'm not important, you are! If they're here for anyone its you, now go!"

And with that Sakura pulled the ends of her white robe up and broke away from Ino and Kakashi, dashing to the destroyed wall to the north. She passed the mangled body of Shinji, supposedly trampled to death in the panic, his mouth and eyes forever frozen in a moment of shock. His death meant her freedom and Sakura was going to use that to her advantage. Before Sakura could jump through the opening in the wall ANBU surrounded her with their weapons drawn. It seems that they were under orders to eliminate her should she chose to be an uncompliant bride.

"Shannarrooooo!" Sakura screamed as she unleased her strength on those who imprisoned her. They probably would have been much harder to fight if they had caught her surprised like last time, but now the odds were in her favor. It seemed none of them were expecting her chakra to be returned to her and their oversight had cost them their life. Sakura maneuvered around each sword and kunai as they swiped towards her. Small frays of the once gorgeous ivory Kimono softly drifted to the floor while Sakura kicked her way through two men. The last attacker behind her fell victim to a flaming rafter dropping onto his body, ending the fight between them. Where the Akatsuki were, Sakura did not know, nor did she ask questions. The instability of the old palace and the recent bomb had all those of sound mind escape, and now it was her turn.

Sakura bounded through the destroyed wall just as a piece of ceiling came crashing down and she took off running as soon as her feet touched the grass. The palace was partially in flames and the grand hall mostly destroyed. With a final explosion from the roof signaled Sakura that she needed to escape before she got caught by Deidara and whatever other Akatsuki were loitering around that night. With a final turn from the palace the pinkette soared through the treetops and disappeared into the mist of the night, running fast and in the opposite direction of Konoha and the fiery palace behind her.

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Ok don't hate me, I need to work on fight scenes, especially with Akatsuki! That teeny tiny one I just did is LAME! But i promise to make the next one way better!


	5. Chapter 5

Two updates in one day?! GASP! Thanks for sticking with me and being patient guys, I want to give you the best so I hope this isn't trash. If I'm the only one who reads it then oh well! I tried and at least its finally out of my head!

Hey also review and tell me what you want more or less of! There isn't much now, but its gonna get better!

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A chill passed through the trees in the mid-autumn air, its careless drift fluttered leaf and debris on the ground and waltzed with the pastel locks in the night air. A stray strand got caught in the remnants of Sakura's makeup, the illuminating white powder and bold red rouge now a smeared mess on her face along with the soot from the fires before. Her disheveled look could nearly rival the internal crisis she was in the midst of right now.

Her reckless abandon of the mission, her desperate flee from the Daiymo's palace, the terror on Ino's face as she screamed for Sakura to run.

Her almost marriage to Deidara of Akatsuki.

The final thought made Sakura's knee give out, landing her into a massive oak trunk with a delicate tinkle from her remaining hair ornament. How- how could this happen. She was once a treasured shinobi of leaf, love by its civilians and priceless on the battle field for her fighting and ability to heal the wounded. Now she was just a pawn, a playing piece in the politics of a coupe. The skills and talents that she had worked so hard for were overshadowed by the simple fact that she was a _girl;_ now only useful for her body to be given away to the highest bidder.

Without the continual drive from before, Sakura's body gave into the stress of her life and for the first time in years she allowed herself the privilege of a pity party. Soft streams of tears cut through the pale make up on her cheeks as she desperately attempted to rein control over the whirl wind of emotions that were finally catching up to her. Tsunade's destructive overthrow, the imprisonment and torture, the removal of basic human rights, her forced coercion to marry the Daimyo's "son" so there may be peace between Danzo and the fire Daimyo. The realization that she was no longer the ruler of her destiny.

All of it was enough to drive anyone a little crazy.

Her tears felt like ice in the autumn chill, but it seemed to reenergize her a bit. Enough time had passed, perhaps ten minutes, perhaps half an hour. It no longer mattered. She needed to put as much distance between herself and the palace as possible, it was only a matter of time before ANBU realized she was not in the rubble of the palace. Her panicked trek was the nail in the coffin, tonight, she was a missing nin.

Her resolve to locate Tsunade doubled. she would not be told who to marry. She would not bow down to a man that stole and cheated his way to power and rule over her beloved village. And she most certainly would NOT wear these damn hair ornaments ever again! The last thought came with the frustrated sound of disgust and a throw of said tinkling object, shining in the full moon light as it soared across the forest floor.

 _"And good riddance"_ Sakura thought with a dainty sniff of her nose. It was time to move, the pity party was done and over and now it was time to sculpt a plan into action. Sakura studied the stars and moon detecting an approximate location from the constellations that shone brightly above her, and she concluded that she was currently position somewhere north near the Land of Hot Springs, the polar opposite of Suna, and thus Gara's protection.

 _"Of course,"_ She grumbled in her thoughts as she kicked off the next branch a little harder than necessary, snapping it in half with her force _"why make it easy for me o great Kami-sama?! Oh yes bless the girl with PINK hair and make her a ninja, and for the hell of it let's give her shit for luck, good idea."_ Her bitter rambling continued as she upped her pace, hopping up into the tree line and darting further into the vast wilderness. The long white kimono sleeves trailed behinds her, Sakura's form an ethereal glow as it dashed through the tree tops. Every now and then a tendril of blossom pink hair would get in her eyes only to be roughly pushed aside by her hand.

It wasn't until hours has passed and the moon was nearing the midnight position did she notice the lack of chakra and energy to continue further. Hoping she was far enough from the destruction, she prayed that a breif rest would not cost her life. Running in the opposite direction of Suna, a notoriously known comrade for Naruto and Rookie 9, would also throw off the trail a little more, but that didn't make Sakura any less bitter about her luck. Land of Hot Springs was considered a peaceful, uneventful country touching the boarder of Fire. Did Tsunade have allies there? Being the Hokage's apprentice was a useful job title for just about any situation, however, she failed to keep up on the political side of her job. It was more Shizune's forte after all, with her easy to get along with personality and professionalism.

 _"Think Sakura think, a Hide? Hideki? Uh….oh come on! What was the name of the man in the Land of Hot Springs? You've read it before in the Hokage tower"_ Who did she know there? It was familiar in some respects, but why was she failing on a name? It did start with an H right? Or was it a J?

With her pointless mumbling about names, Sakura almost missed the distinct bubble of a near by hot spring. Her face perked up and she set about finding the water source, a quick dip in a famous Land of Hot Springs pool would revitalize her energy and cure her fatigue! The land was medicinally worshipped for its natural source of healing waters that soothe tired muscles.

A small step around a pine tree Sakura found her prize, a secluded pool of steaming water sitting within a small cluster of boulders and rocks by the steep drop off of a cliff. In the distance Sakura could see the bright lights of a nearby town and almost hear the distinct chime of music; a party town and one with a gambling hall no doubt! This was the perfect place to head to in search of the ever-famous "Legendary Sucker Tsunade", perhaps Sakura's luck was turning around.

The warmth of lights on the horizon comforted Sakura a bit, making her feel not as lonely. It might take a while to rinse away the grime from the past 4-hour race and rid herself of the tarnished makeup Ino had so delicately applied, the knowing there was life out there eased her tension.

 _"I'll need new clothes too…"_ The remnants of her pearl white kimono were… shameful to say the least, but the offending garment was only a reminded of her almost fate of being a sacrificial lamb for Danzo's Konoha.

Sakura briskly removed the silk from her marred flesh, depositing it on a dry rock near by the spring. Her rosy jeweled undergarments were another flashy display of waste that would not live to see her intended "wedding night" and nothing would Sakura happier than to fling them off the side of the cliff with a fire jutsu, but considering the lack of replacements, lack of chakra, and her elevated search status, it would probably prove unwise for her to set the lingerie ablaze for the world to see her fit of feminist rage. At least until she found suitable replacements in town.

Slipping into the hot waters, a sigh escaped Sakura's lips. The water's depths seemed to dip suddenly as she neared the center of the medium sized pool, but the rocks lining it provided more than enough clean "seats" for the exhausted kunoichi to place her bottom in peace. This spot was heaven and her luck just might be looking up. A tease of a breeze made her nipples pebble in the cool autumn air, but besides the shiver her body automatically released she was not bothered in the slightest. She went about dunking her long hair and face into the calming waters, pulling pins and ties from the extravagant remains of her updo. The peaceful sky and stars had almost made Sakura forget why she was there in the first place.

Marrying off Tsunade's "illegitimate daughter" was his plan, pfff. Was he so incapable as to not research just WHO she was marrying? If the AKATSUKI had been spotted in the area before hand and were MAYBE pulling one over on him? Honestly hardly any work had been placed into this political mission and Danzo's inability to make sure things were in order showed just how incapable he was. Sakura grabbed some sandy mud by her feet and used it to scrub her skin, supposedly it had concentrated healing properties in it from the years of soaking in the pool's minerals.

"Damn baka had shit for brains. Old bastard didn't care, it could have been that blue oaf Hoshigaki Kisame and he probably wouldn't know the difference-"

"Careful he's rather sensitive about his skin color."

Never, in all of Sakura's life, did she freeze quicker than the moment that voice made itself known. The smooth tenor coating her hearing.

How many nights did she wake screaming from the nightmares he portrayed the main character in? Her PTSD still determined whether she could brave a night with the lights off in her bedroom, or if she slept at all that night. How many years ago did she kill him, only for his presence to be casually perched on the rock in front of her. The molten eyes of hatred and madness from her nightmares had transformed into chocolate pools, a silent laugh within his eyes bore straight into her jade abyss. His amusement and rather lax position were misleading to some but gone were the army of puppets that would cut apart her limbs, instead his hands seemed preoccupied inspecting the unique garment in his hands.

She should've burned that damn bra earlier.

He spared the heavy bra a glance and sneered with humor " _Sakura,_ such a waste. Your little act of defiance was not appreciated, you ruined the plans much sooner than expected. Leader-sama had hoped to have Deidara produce heirs before you could leave. I've been told it's much harder to escape any situation when children are involved."

Her face blanched…. Children? How far could the Akatsuki plan ahead? Could they have been part of Danzo's successful take over, all in order to get to her? Why would they even want _her_! Her anxiety started to increase, but externally Sakura remained collected. How dare he mock her like this! He readily met her glare with enthusiasm, daring her to move or protest. Sasori's body had yet to move significantly, but she was could see the rise and fall of his cloak, the slight puffs of air condensing in the chill of the night. Sasori was as human as she was, and perhaps she could use that to her advantage.

"You seem awfully chatty for a dead man walking," She stepped deeper into the water so that it covered her more but water, even a hot spring, is not meant to veil the world from what lays beneath. Arms self-consciously crossed over her breasts even though her loose hair had done a fine job covering her.

Sasori's breathy chuckle shook her to her very core, and not necessarily in a negative way much to her disgust. Sakura hardened her glare at his intrusion. "Manners blossom, tsk tsk I was rather hoping you would faint or cry at my dramatic arrival. You disappoint me."

"Who gives a **_damn_** ," Sakura bit out in wrath, she was quite done playing games at this point. "Care to explain why I seem to have Akatsuki hot on my heels these days?" Silence would lead to him becoming bored, impatient for a result to what ever was about to happen. Inner was begging her to stall, make a plan, anything. Literally anything would be better than being murdered by an Akatsuki holding a sparkling, jeweled pink bra. Slightly adjusting her positioning with her body turned at an angle, Sakura took in her surroundings while the Akatsuki idly sat a mere 10 feet from her. The cliff was in sight out of the corner of her eye and unfortunately in the opposite direction of her clothing and her blind spot behind her was relatively well covered by the rocks jutting up into the air. This day really couldn't get much worse.

He scoffed, tossing the heavy lingerie behind him, excitement evident across his face. The sudden move made Sakura jump, then blush more in embarrassment, if that even possible at this point. She was a _damn_ kunoichi and would not be bullied into embarrassment or fear by this man.

"Tch. Akatsuki? What about me, doll? Why are you not concerned that the man you _tried_ to kill is now very much alive, stalking you as a lion would do its prey to devour."

 ** _"Fuck fuck fuck FUCK, do anything Sakura! Move!"_**

And move she did, just in time to avoid a three-pronged scythe crashing into the pool where her body had been only milliseconds prior. Sleeked back silver hair shone in the moonlight, a manic grin plastered on his pale face as he jumped down into the pool where the scythe had landed.

 ** _"Oh! That name from earlier was Hidan! The….the missing nin from the Land of Hot Springs in Tsunade's bingo book…"_**

Sakura couldn't believe her luck. To be naked, fighting in a hot spring with two fully equipped Akatsuki members, as a missing nin, without the backup of her village, also wanted for potentially obliterating a palace to escape an arranged marriage and making sure to destroy the many ROOT in her path.

Perhaps Tsunade's luck had rubbed off on her.

All adrenaline was focused on her walking nightmare, but her brain was pleading with her to multitask. One did not simply survive a battle with one Akatsuki, much less two. Arms covered her breasts again, water attempting to save the modesty of her lower half. She NEEDED a plan now. Regaining composure again she slightly adjusted her body to acknowledge Hidan's presence, yet Sasori still remained mostly in her view. A physical weapon was easily seen to avoid, chakra strings, however, proved more difficult if not watched carefully.

"It would be best to give up little girl," Sasori said as he gracefully stood from his perch on the rocks "I might even consider giving you back your lovely robe as a present for being good."

Sakura took a small step back in defiance, enjoying the look the man was giving her. The slick haired new comer reined in his scythe and adjusted his position on the water not 12 feet from her, a lopsided grin on his face that positively screamed 'mentally unstable maniac'.

"Sasori you stiff bastard you didn't tell me she was a hottie! Man, I need to partner up with you from now on, this is fucking amazing! Hey bitch, how about you move those arms for me? I'm dying to see what all the commotion is about!" The silver haired nin sloppily licked his lips in a revoltingly crude manner. "Or I could come join you and help with that bath-"

"Put your hands on me and I will cut them off with that **_toy_** of yours." Sakura hissed. The rage of her past few months was practically suffocating the air around them. She would not die like this, she would not shame herself like that. No chakra, no ninjutsu, there was very little she could do besides taijutsu and that would involve some flashing.

"Oh, I definitely will put my hands on that sweet ass, come on babe you haven't lived until you've done it in the Land of Hot Springs waters! I'll make you _scream_."

And scream she did. Modesty be damned, but Sakura was now considering Sasori to be the lesser evil at this point and he had actively expressed his desire to mutilate her body into a living puppet in the past.

Once she moved, the entire environment exploded into a burst of movement from all parties present. With a mad dash Sakura threw the handful of mud she grabbed during her earlier bathing into Hidan's eyes, not taking the time to enjoy the profanities that erupted from his sullied mouth. She raced toward his muddy form and ripped the scythe from his hands using the last bit of chakra she had. His blinded form frantically grasped out for her, but with one swipe she destroyed his chest and he fell into the water. The once peaceful midnight pool had transformed into a tsunami of red waves, splashing over the sides and off the side of the cliff nearby.

 _"The cliff!"_ Sakura thought. Yes! Even falling to her death would be better than what the Akatsuki had planned for her. With lightning reflexes, Sakura leaped out of the hot spring. Tunnel vision on her escape route had prevented her from seeing the puppeteer maneuver over Hidan and tackle her airborne body away from the cliffs edge, landing promptly atop her shaking form.

"God damn you! Damnit!" Sakura yelled as they wrestled on the edge, barely avoiding the deadly tumble over. In her exhausted, chakra-less, stressed body, Sakura was as threatening as a soaked kitten. Sasori moved diligently to capture her body, pinning her legs with his and taking both hands into one of his whiles confidently reaching into his cloak for the serum he had given to Deidara before.

Her bucking and cursing never dulled, which was wearing on Sasori's patience. "Silence yourself, you're behaving poorly." He muttered, huffing in anger when a well-aimed knee slipped past his leg and nailed his side that would bruise later. Wet skin proved hard for him to grasp and attaching his infamous chakra strings would require him to remove his hands from her petite body for a second, enough time for her to roll over the cliff side and create a red and pink mess at the bottom.

"How _DARE_ you, I'll never cooperate, I'll never stop escaping, I'll spend every moment fighting you, destroying your stupid, pathetic boy band of a cult!"

Sasori's patience had run out. He thought himself a reasonable man, but her hotheaded remarks were ruining any enjoyment he had earlier from spying on her bath.

Threats were below him, but she tended to bring out the worst in him. Grabbing her chin and steeling his face was enough for Sakura's bravado from earlier to be eliminated. "You will **_behave_ **or I will ignore your screams when he decides to take you. Now shut up Sakura, despite what you think of me this is the more merciful path." And with a final move her injected the thick liquid into her captured arm. The vial was intended to act as a strong tranquilizer for opponents with large reservoirs of chakra. A full vial had knocked Kisame out before, but for Sakura to have not one, but two in less than 24 hours was impressive, if not alarming. Just how did she manage to clear the first injection so quickly? Sasori wondered as he resettled his grip on her. Further analysis would be necessary, he didn't like to think that his poison creations were weakening.

"Can I- just… damnit hand me my clothes-" She tossed her head to the side and looked out at the town in the distance. So, so close, yet so far. Sakura wearily sighed, exhaustion taking over. Her fight was over, with her destruction at the palace, escaping, and the mystery serum she felt sleep slowly taking over her mind and darkness creeping into her vision. "If I die here I'll haunt you" Sakura sleepily mumbled to the darkness, a low chuckle was the last thing she heard.

The woman before him had pushed herself until exhaustion and should she be anyone else it would have gotten her killed. Sasori found himself scowling at the wet mess of pink kunoichi before him. She should've stopped to rest long before he and Hidan found the expensive ornament thrown carelessly in the forest and the silk threads leading the to her like a crumb trail. The exploded tree limb was also a thoughtless mistake but living a cushioned life inside a safe village with no threats often made people forget even the most basic of ninja survival skills.

A glance at the kimono remains told Sasori his time would be wasted trying to cover her nude body with it. With a careful unbuttoning of the cloak, he allowed himself to truly look at her. She'd developed into a stunning woman of strength, even without her chakra. Limbs were defined and muscled but maintained a slim enough build, so she could still participate in delicate assassination and stealth missions without raising suspicion about her true profession. Perhaps the most intriguing detail was the raised scar on her lower left abdomen, a testament to their battle so long ago. Sasori cautiously loosened his hold on her arm and then released it all together, tracing his thumb over the rough, jagged line. Why had she not healed it? Noticing her long, dripping pastel blossom hair Sasori sighed in irritation.

 _"She'll get ill if we travel in this condition."_ Sasori thought with a grumble. For a woman of her skill set, talents, and accomplishments she was still a fool for believing a bath so soon after her escape was a good idea. She had yet to discover how to push aside frivolous desires for the sake of survival. He supposed she would learn soon enough, however, she would be spending a good chunk of the remainder of her life within the Akatsuki base if Leader-sama got his wish.

"Damn bitch is going to have me blinder than Itachi! It was a cheap move! Hand her over she deserves to die!" Hidan had finally recovered from her previous attack, an embarrassing scenario that even Sasori couldn't help but smirk about.

"Honestly Hidan, be professional." Sasori tried to reason as he wrapped the petite pink frame in his cloak, the black highlighting the pale flesh and pink hair contained inside.

"Did you miss the fucking _hole_ in my chest?! She's not that sniveling brat from team 7, she fucking stole my scythe! I missed out big on this and it bites! Hand her over I didn't get to touch her once." His reasoning was juvenile at best and absolutely unnecessary, Sasori could now see why Kakuzu preferred the man headless.

"Don't be childish, your assistance in carrying her is unnecessary-"

"Ahhh screw you" Hidan interrupted dismissively "your hormones are finally catching up to you and all that blah blah I get it! Fucking share you stingy pervert!"

Crude as ever, Sasori supposed not even that would change for Hidan, but to mess with the man might be a little bit of fun he supposed.

"I highly doubt Sakura-chan would prefer you over me Hidan, she did throw mud at you while running happily towards my arms, naked I might add" And with a shift hauled the limp figure into his arms, frightfully pale legs dangling over the crook of his elbow while her head rested on the other arm. More grumbling from Hidan as he gathered his beloved scythe, the team leaped into the trees and began their journey home, mission accomplished.


	6. Chapter 6

Ok so I added some organic chemistry in this chapter and fair warning, it probably means absolutely nothing lol. I just wanted to show Sakura thinking scientifically instead of pure ninja. In order for her to heal bodies the way she does she has to know a crazy amount of information about the human body and all the science involved with it, one of the many reasons I adore her so much!

FYI, if crude language is not your favorite, well then I'm sorry and apologize in advance!

Also I don't own Naruto, I realized I forgot to say that previously whoops.

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To say Sakura had shit for luck would be the understatement of the century. The pinkette woke groggily with a groan and a head splitting head ache, kami what did they hit her with? Did they hit her? The bed she awoke on was plush, but seemingly missing all pillows, blankets, and sheets. At least that was Sakura's suspicion since the room lacked any source of light at all.

Carefully she pushed aching body up from its prone position. Her joints were sore, especially the injection sites from both Sasori and Deidara's intrusive needles. Sakura pushed the smallest amount of chakra into the wound, searching for any identifiable compounds or molecules that could give away the intention of the substance they gave her.

" _Hmm, a resonance stabilized carbocation and sigma complex? Mainly used in potions that wish to draw the effects of a electrophile from other compounds to induce an oxidation…..but used to produce a knock out effect?"_ Sakura attempted to draw back on her knowledge in the lab with Shizune, but her bio and organic chemistry was limited if she couldn't draw out the possible resonance products. _"Oh, a chakra binding molecule, lovely. Now to get around this nonsense…. I need to conserve energy… I could create more chakra receptors on each cell infected?"_ The still groggy kunoichi maneuvered herself into a position of meditation. Any compound this microscopic would need her intense focus on the details of cellular membranes or she would risk blasting apart each infected cell.

An hour must have gone by before Sakura felt as though she had done enough. New receptors for raw chakra would allow her existing chakra to bind to the cells again and by pass what ever poison Sasori manufactured.

Sakura scowled at nothing, her mood bittering significantly, why would _he_ bother with a simple chakra binding serum instead of a full-blown attack to her body with one of his many poisons? She was not enjoying the careful, delicate attention the Akatsuki seemed to be giving her. It was never good to catch their eye, and Sakura would be damned if she got caught up in all of that. The last helpful bit of information that Sasori told her was that she and Deidara were planned to _reproduce-_

 ** _"And on that note, we're fucking out of here."_** Inner said darkly. Sakura shivered at the morose thought. Dainty feet slide to the ground, bare skin touching the cold wood floor there. Another worrisome thought hit Sakura's conscious that froze her in her tracks.

Just where the hell was her clothing.

Blindly searching the bed Sakura found a thick object of decent length that would have to do for now, it felt dense, with sleeves? If these idiots left her with a bath robe she would lose her damn mind. Pulling more at it, the object seemed to have warmth and sure enough it was either one of those murderers' cloaks or indeed a bath robe. She thrust her arms into the sleeves angrily, mumbling about single handedly destroying Akatsuki for testing her patience so much, honestly a fucking robe?!

Now somewhat dressed She stepped to the ground and lightly walked in a straight line to discover – a wall jamming her toe half a step into her journey

 _"KAMI DAMNIT THESE FUCKS WILL DIE, I'LL MURDER EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM. FUCK THIS, FUCK THIS, FUCK THIS SHIT!"_ Sakura wordlessly screamed as she bent down to grasp her big toe in pain and agony, why the hell did she literally have to get out of the wrong side of the bed!? It was a wonder no one heard her apparently try to kick through the wall with her toe, but the complete silence was making her restless. Trying to walk, again, Sakura made her way to the wall and carefully scooted around the room while feeling the wall with one arm. Once she found a door she lightly hovered over the handle to test for security, strings, seals, and any other tricks Sasori might like to apply. Discovering none she applied the slightest pressure and nearly gasped when she discovered it was unlocked.

" _Fools."_ Sakura grinned with a victorious smirk.

She cracked the door, making the smallest crack of dim light peer into her dark room and giving her enough room to glance into the hallway of her freedom. The same hardwood floors lined the corridor and charcoal walls seemed to continue endlessly. Were the ceiling lights dimmed? Or of poor quality, Sakura couldn't tell. She waited for a few minutes trying to get a feel for the normal sounds and gain an idea about where her exit was, but it seemed to be a waste of time. There were no windows, nor sounds besides the hissing of the warm air coming out of the vents. Well, might as well make a move. Sasori was bound to come back eventually and torment her soul somehow.

The first steps were the slowest of Sakura's life. She held her breath as she made her way out of her dark prison.

 _"I killed one of them once, you think they would be more careful. They doubt me…"_ Sakura grumbled mentally as she dashed through the hallway on the pads of her feet, reducing any noise she made to nothing. She needed to move and fast, the more of this strange building she could see the better her chances were to escape. All she needed was one window, she had about 40% of her chakra now and it was growing thanks to her successful new chakra receptors. A simple window would be no match for her strength. But where was everyone? Shouldn't she have run into someone by now?

Just as Sakura had that thought she ran by an open archway that seemingly led into a large communal room of some sort. She glanced in to make sure the coast was clear-

And made direct eye contact with an obviously startled Itachi Uchiha holding a tea cup halfway to his mouth.

 _"Screw stealth, you're FUCKED."_ And off Sakura took at break neck speed, hoping to out maneuver the infamous ANBU, clan killing, genjutsu master, s- class criminal now hot on her trail in his pajamas. He might know the lay of the building, but she was fast. Her limber body trained daily, so she could escape battles at impossible speeds and preserve herself if she was platoon medic. Right now, she was shamelessly running away from certain death.

A glance behind her confirmed that the tired, _shirtless_ Uchiha was still behind her and she fell for him. Literally.

It was a poor timed glance and a fatal mistake for her. Just as she was about to look forward the ground disappeared from underneath Sakura as she launched herself horizontal above the staircase. Gravity did its job and crumpled Sakura at the bottom in a barely clothed pile of black robe and blue bruises with an echoing thud, momentum tumbling her into the stair well wall. A few ribs seemed misplaced, but in her adrenaline induced focus Sakura could hardly focus on anything other than the red eyes that knelt beside her.

Itachi, hardly breaking a sweat, secured both of her wrists in one of his and abruptly stood, pulling Sakura up with him. She thrashed in his grip, hoping her sweat would make his grasp fail. She wouldn't die without destroying at least one more Akatsuki and with that thought the pinkette swung a round kick towards his core, hoping to rupture an organ or two. Sensing the chakra behind her kick, Itachi utilized his extra hand to grab her ankle in a block, leaving the two ninja in a strange hold. Sakura growled in frustration and pushed off the ground with her other foot in attempt to get him off balance and aim a higher, front kick to his open chin, grazing it.

"Calm yourself Kunoichi," Itachi seethed in irritation.

Sakura was just about to lash out at him, but her lack of control and overall movement made her realize that once again she was not the one in control.

Itachi yanked her back in the direction they had just come in a pace slightly too fast for Sakura. Her limp was becoming a nuisance and it seemed that Itachi had come to realize this fact as well. Without a word the normally stoic man released a soft sigh, paused, and picked Sakura up in one sweep of his arms, carrying her in a gentle manner towards her designated room. It was awkward to say the least and Sakura turned her head away from him angrily.

"Why am I here?" Sakura muttered. Her tumultuous adventures these past few weeks had left Sakura with very few facts, perhaps Itachi would be willing to give her an idea about what was going on. Slightly turning her head Sakura cautiously stared at his necklace. Being impolite to a person who had a high probability of psychiatric issues was going to get her nowhere.

Whether Itachi heard her or not she was unsure, his facial expression and pace never faltered. Just as Sakura was about to give up she heard him make a relatively unimpressed noise. She glanced up and saw that they were once again at her door. He gently put her down and gave her a small push into the room as he followed her in. Sweat broke out on the back of Sakura's neck, every instinct was telling her to escape the small room he seemingly trapped her in. She shuffled away from the man as he shut the door, not daring to turn her back to him. Eyes remained focused on the ground, urgently willing a plan to form in her head.

"Go to bed Sakura-san," Itachi casually said as he softly stalked towards her "it is the middle of the night and I'm not particularly in the mood to babysit you."

"I don't need babysitting, I need answers. For heaven's sake just tell me what the hell is going on! Why was Akatsuki in the fire palace? Why am I here? Where is everyone? And just what the fuck-" Sakura failed to finish her sentence as Itachi quickly approached her vision. Not daring to get caught in a genjutsu she hastily shut her eyes.

Then forced them wide open when the elder Uchiha's lips made harsh contact with her own. His calloused hand grabbed the back of her neck and caught her as a lion would catch its prey. Green, startled emeralds clashed with intense calculating ruby as their eyes met. Before Sakura could even begin to think coherently Itachi had caught her in his genjutsu and she dropped into his ready arms as he caught her. 

* * *

Itachi had decided long ago that women were fickle things of nature, though he would dare not say such things in front of Konan-san. The childish kunoichi before him was well into womanhood, and yet such a trivial thing as a kiss could have been her death out in the real world. He made his way to the bed with the robe draped body in his arms, making a mental note to speak to Konan-san about the possibility of getting the kunoichi more appropriate attire for her stay. Placing her thin frame on the bed, Itachi paused briefly to adjust the worn robe so it covered her more. The least Sasori could have done was provide her with pants.

Itachi walked to the door and went to lock it with a seal, noticing that there had not been one placed on the door previously. Where all the Akatsuki absent minded fools? He shook his head lightly and softly padded back to the kitchen to finish his tea, the entire ordeal had taken 10 minutes and perhaps the welcoming liquid would still be warm.

His late night loitering in the base was not an unheard of past time for Itachi, as he rather preferred the heat from the nearby wood stove to the chill in his far away bedroom. The hard wood floors of the base seemed to lack the warmth necessary for the high mountains they were currently lodged in. If he had to guess it was probably snowing at this time of year, but the base also lacked windows since it was located well beneath a mountain and Itachi could not confirm his suspicions.

A minute sound of a door shut and the raven hair man sipped on his luke warm tea, savoring its taste while a newcomer entered the kitchen. It seemed his moment of peace would once again be shattered.

"Kami, it's fuckin cold out, hmm," The boisterous blonde dramatically threw his wet cloak on the nearest chair and rubbed his hands over his arms as he made his way to the communal pantry to search for something.

"I have just made a pot of tea, you are more than welcome to help yourself." Itachi offered softly. Deidara made a rude snort and continued his rummaging, apparently dissatisfied with Itachi's offer.

"How about something stronger? I know Kisame hides his mist Sake behind his food, but I can't find it, hmm." A can crashed to the floor as Deidara continued his search, irritating Itachi with his childish antics.

A larger bang and the switch of the kitchen lights alerted both nin of Kisame's appearance, apparently hearing the two speak in low tones. Deidara immediately stopped shuffling around and produced a can of soup to warm, apparently no longer interested in stealing treasured Sake from the mist nin now that he was here.

"Whew, I'm beat. Leaf might have produced you a few other notable ninjas, but their selection is terribly disappointing now days." The blue man flopped down in a chair next to Itachi and deposited his sword on the kitchen table with a thud, blood from the scales lightly pooling on the mahogany wood, staining it a deeper color.

"Oi, get a towel and clean that shit before I sit down to eat, ya blue fuck hmm." Deidara stirred his soup with a glare towards the mist ninja.

"Oh, pardon my manners, 'oh great Haru-sama', I forgot that we were in the presence of royalty! Here, allow me to polish the table! Oh! And please let me lick the dirt from your boot Haru-sama, it would be my greatest pleasure!" Kisame took on a high-pitched voice and mocked Deidara, finishing it off with a laugh and standing to retrieve his Sake from the pantry.

"Ah shut it, you're just jealous I was the prince charming for Sakura- _chan,_ hmm." Deidara immaturely boasted Itachi closed his eyes and sighed, why couldn't everyone be quiet like Sasori-san?

Seemingly producing the alcohol from thin air, Kisame set down a handful of cups in front of Itachi and began to pour. Tonight, like other nights, they celebrated not dying; a large feat in the world of an S-class criminal. Itachi gave Kisame a dry look, to which Kisame grinned. "Come on old man, relax a little. A few of these and you'll be enjoying our company in no time!" Itachi raised an eyebrow but knew better than to argue with the mist nin about these matters. He gracefully grasped the shallow cup and sipped the sake, a pleasant burn sliding down his throat and warming his core.

Deidara snagged the next cup Kisame poured before the older man could offer or protest and downed it in one gulp. "Speaking of the pink haired devil, where is she, hmm?" the blonde asked after finishing his cup and eyeballing Kisame for another.

"Indisposed at the moment. Sasori-san left her room unlocked and I was left to deal with his mistakes when she ran past the doorway." Itachi said with the faintest air of annoyance. Deidara took a breath at the wrong moment and aspirated his sake, snorting it out across the table towards the still bloody sword, leaving Kisame to belly laugh at the young man's misery.

Once the hacking subsided Deidara slammed his hand on the table "What do you mean she 'ran past the door way'?!"

"I mean that the kunoichi moved in a faster-"

"Hai, hai I know what you mean, but that shit was supposed to keep her down for days, hmm!" Deidara glanced wide eyed at Kisame and slowly pushed his hand through his tangle blonde locks "Remember that one-time Sasori knicked you with a sword and you passed out for a day?"

Kisame gruffed into his cup "Yeah, that was a hell of a hangover the next day. So, she got a dose of that?"

"Two."

All but Itachi turned to look at Sasori as he entered the kitchen, seemingly tired from his battle that day. The puppet master looked a little worse for wear with many bleeding scratches adoring his new human body. It would understandably take a while for his stamina and endurance to catch up to his skills again, but none the less he looked better than most after an encounter with ROOT.

"Ah, Sasori my man, here throw this back!" Kisame handed him a small cup of sake to which Sasori wrinkled his nose slightly "It's a healing potion, you look pretty banged up. What's the matter? Did those rascals give your dolls trouble?" Kisame was always one for poking fun, a trait the young Akatsuki had long since gotten use to with the older man.

Sasori thought about handing back the drink, but given his long day and the amount of work he had to do to refinish his puppet army he considered this a reward for not murdering anyone he wasn't suppose to. First Deidara screwing up the bombing and Hidan almost allowed the blossom to toss herself over the cliff due to his incompetence.

The red headed sand nin tossed the drink back and enjoyed its warm burn down his throat. "Arigato, Kisame-san." He said as he moved to sit at an empty spot next to Itachi.

"Oi, the Konoha girl apparently made a run for it while we were gone danna. You sure you gave her the right dosage?" Deidara stated with an eyebrow raised and evident doubt on his face. He always was an open book, but the news he delivered shocked Sasori as he glanced over at the blonde.

" Hai, I'm no fool. I injected it directly into her vein, unlike _some,_ " Sasori said with the slightest glare "-and she received the full syringe. The active ingredients and their compounds should have catalyzed within her blood stream and keep her calm as a kitten for approximately a week." Sasori was puzzled to here she had gotten up and moved from her room, much less ran. Each compound he utilized was specifically crafted to block chakra receptors, thus immobilizing most ninja and causing their bodies to shut down from sudden chakra depletion. Not to the point of death, more like an induced shock or coma, but how could she awake?

"She was alert and conscious enough to know to avoid my eyes, is there a way the serum perhaps expired or is ineffective against certain chakra types? Her healing nature-" Itachi began to reason. A light bulb must have switched on in the puppets mind because his dark eyes grew wider than normal, seemingly realizing something.

"It is possible that she derived a way to work around the compound's effects.. but that would take extremely delicate cellular control on a large scale. To do so in her condition…"

"-Is exactly what happened, fuck. Her sensei is that old Hokage, Tsunade-hime and I am willing to bet you she's just plotting our demise behind her door right now. " Deidara dramatically waved his spoon in the air, uncaring of his lack of professionalism "Come on Sasori, you're slipping up on your skills. Can't be doing that now, you already have inferior art skills; I would hate for you to also be the Akatsuki weak link, hmm." The bomber gloated in glee, enjoying the fire that burned in the opposing artist's eyes.

"Tch, what you do is mere child's play, going about and sticking your fingers in wet mud like it's enjoyable."

"That's not the only thing I enjoy sticking my fingers in." Deidara laughed "Speaking of which, where is my little _wifey,_ I ought to see about consummating the wedding night, hmm."

Kisame belly laughed at Deidara's joke while Itachi and Sasori internally groaned in annoyance at the blonde's antics. Deidara, seemingly pleased with everything, rose to put his bowl in the sink and strutted to the hallway.

"And where are you off to?" Kisame questioned as he tossed back his 6th cup of sake for the night, still decently sober.

"Where else? I gotta go see my cherry blossom, she's probably all alone and cold. I'll be sure to warm her up real quick hmm."

Itachi would not have that nonsense happen while he was around, his (dead) mother raised him to be more of a gentleman than to allow something like rape. "You will not touch her. Leader-sama has commanded we leave her unscathed and any abuses to her will not be tolerated." He flicked his sharingan on, red glowing in the dim light of the kitchen.

Deidara stopped, but casually waved a hand in the air "Hai, okaa-san. But that doesn't mean I can't scare her into cooperating a little more, hmm." His devilish smirk never easing.

"Take Kisame-san with you, if she awoke once then she knows something I don't and could very well give you a black eye for pulling such nonsense." Sasori wisely voiced as he reached for the sake bottle and helped himself to a 2nd cup. The shark like man, seemingly interested in the change of events, quickly rose and shouldered Samehada. Together the two men diapered through the doorway and down the hall, their lingering voices chuckling at an unheard joke.

"She's been placed under a genjutsu," Itachi said with a small sigh "Their tricks are just wasted time." It bothered Itachi to see grow, s-class criminals behave as such. Were they not professionals?

"Be that as it may, perhaps the sword can detect something abnormal. I will need to run a few blood tests in the lab in order to figure out what she-"

Sasori was unable to finish his sentence. A loud bang erupted from the hallway only feet away and the hanging light above Itachi shook. More sounds of struggle, and a definite female scream of anger, put them on edge. Both men glanced at each other and remained seated until Kisame's gruff voice sounded in the distance.

"Sasori, your kitten's been naughty." He yelled from a distance as dust from the ceiling drifted lazily to the ground around the seated men. They made their way toward commotion only to see a sparsely clothed Sakura struggling in Kisame's grip as he held her throat against the wall of the corridor, blood dribbling down the back of her neck.

She unleashed a second scream and kicked angrily at the blue man before her. Where Deidara was neither Sasori nor Itachi could see. A tightening of his hand turned the pinkette's face blue and for a moment Sasori swore she was already dead.

" So much for no harm." Sasori absently said as he glared at the pink mess in Kisame's hand. The borrowed cloak was shredded and sleeves were entirely ripped off, presumably now adoring her hands as wraps. What had been the bottom third was missing as well, giving the men a lovely view of her long, defined legs up to mid-thigh, but what lay beneath was still a mystery for the wandering eyes.

" ** _Bastards_**!" She screeched yet again, harsh on Kisame's ears as he winced.

"Little hellcat stabbed Deidara and tried to gut him, would someone go check on the kid. Damn near got my face too." Kisame growled as he smacked her head against the wall again, stilling her movements and weakening her attacks. Neither man moved, but only glanced at the other one.

"I thought she was in a genjutsu?" Sasori said low enough for Itachi, and perhaps Kisame, to hear.

"My genjustsu tells me she still is…" Itachi trailed off and went toward the girl, leaving Sasori to deal with his indisposed partner in the room. What the puppeteer found was impressive, it seemed she had figured out a way to create a clone and move the genjutsu from her to it, then ripped apart the mattress to produce the spring shive that was currently in Deidara's stomach. Her target unfortunately was missed by a long shot and there was Deidara leaning against the wall applying pressure to the intrusive object.

"What was that about the Akatsuki weak link, Deidara?" Sasori couldn't help but goad as he chuckled and left the room, more interested in his little prize now that Deidara was alright.

"Kisame, remove _all_ of that persistent chakra." Itachi commanded as he glared at the woman before him, who stupidly glared right back. If leader-sama hadn't given them direct order to not harm her he would inflict the pain of Tsukuyomi. Surely that would humble the hot head weakly gripping Kisame's blue arm.

"Gladly," Kisame said with a grin and with a swoop of his sword, she fell fully against his arm panting.

Sakura had never felt so ill in her entire life, to have all her chakra ripped from her body so abruptly was nauseating. It took everything in her will power to not throw up on the arm in front of her. A harsh grasp gripped her chin and yanked so her eye sight met Itachi's. His still shirtless form and the kiss from earlier weighed on her memory as she fought down her blush, how dare he take her first kiss from her?! She scowled as she held back another wave of nausea, she thought she was done with being used.

"Go on kitten, tell them how you messed up." Kisame said as he shook her lightly. The sudden movement did nothing to calm her queasiness. She was too preoccupied to notice how close Itachi had gotten before he spoke again.

"Kunoichi, explain to me what you've done to my genjustsu." Itachi's deep voice seemingly growled at her, he was no longer in the mood to play games and it appeared as if Sakura's life on Earth would be cut short.

"I transferred it to a shadow clone." Sakura grumbled as she stared directly into Itachi's eyes, internally startling the man. She either had to be incredibly brave or stupid to repeat such a mistake with an Uchiha, he thought to himself amused.

Sasori leaned against the doorway and stared down the pinkette who looked back at him with tired eyes burning with a dim fire. Even she knew there was no chance she could escape four Akatsuki and the weight of her actions seemingly calmed her for the moment. Deidara stood up and made his way to the hallway, glaring at the pink hellcat in Kisame's grip. He hadn't even gotten halfway to the bed before she jumped down from the ceiling with her shank. It was a good thing Deidara was expecting her resistance, but to move as fast as she did was unexpected.

"Yeah and just where the fuck did that chakra come from, hmm?" Deirdara glared at the woman before them. He was half tempted to yank the invasive metal spring from his stomach, but doing so could cause him to bleed even more. The angered man looked at the floor and almost groaned out loud, if he couldn't get that blood stain up from the floor then Kakuzu would throw a fit and charge him to fix it.

"Fuck off," Sakura grit as she began to finally overcome the nausea. Any chakra receptors she had built were destroyed by the monstrous sword in Kisame's other hand, it was useless to fight them like this. Her opportunity had passed and even though the smart move was to play the meek captive, her pride and temperament wanted to cuss every last one of them out. "and stay the hell out of my head Uchiha, do it again and you'll regret it."

Itachi met her glare, but the tension in the hallway melted when Kisame laughed aloud from her threat. "Really kid? You're gonna threaten him? Come on, don't tell me Sasori's little potion destroyed your brain cells!" Putting Samehada on his back, Kisme grabbed weakened Kunoichi and threw her over his shoulder. Sakura protested with a weak squeak.

"You reek, and I doubt Leader-sama will be pleased to see you in this condition. Let's get you all nice and cleaned up." Kisame casually stated as he strolled down the hallway from her room. The blue man's shoulder was painfully digging into her gut and she was nervously trying to prevent the back end of her robe from riding up. Kisame must have noticed her small fidgets and chuckled at her misery.

"Now kitten if you didn't go tearing up your new wardrobe with your claws then maybe you wouldn't be in this mess."

Her hand tugged down and held the robe's position in a safe place, she sensed he was friendlier than his looks let on, perhaps a father figure within the organization. "With my luck? I'm surprised I'm even clothed. Who knew chivalry was alive and well within a terrorist organization." She bit at him in a whisper of misery. Where was he taking her?

Sakura's question was answered moments later when the duo arrived at a seemingly different type of door that Kisame opened. Inside was a large room lined with wooden plank walls made of cedar and a small heated stove near a corner. Built in benches lined the same corner, while the opposite side of the massive room held an onsen, its steaming water a dull reminder of how Sakura came to be in the Akatsuki base in the first place.

"Now this is a privilege and I'm only granting it to you cause Deidara has been needing some humbling and you dished it out so I didn't have to." Kisame remarked as he plopped the small kunoichi on a bench and moved to a closet to grab some necessities. "Now strip."

His blunt command threw Sakura off for a moment, surely he wasn't serious.

They stared each other down for a few seconds before the older man sighed and put his hands up in surrender "Alright, fine, deny the blue guy." and turned around after tossing her a towel.

Sakura, hesitant about his sudden friendliness slowly peeled the sticky black robe from her shoulders and wrapped the towel around her quickly, watching Kisame the entire time. If she had a mirror she could check the damage on her head, but looking around she didn't see one. With small, soft steps she walked toward the steaming pool before her and swiftly hopped in as she removed the towel from her body, holding it with one arm not quite sure where to put it.

Kisame took the splash of water as the ok sign to look and moved towards her with his hand extended. "I'll hold that, you just clean yourself up kiddo." She passed the towel to him with a blush, embarrassed to have been so exposed in front of her enemy.

Sakura stayed silent and focused on the water before her in silence. The steam swirled in a lazy dance above the water, distracting Sakura from the dull throb at the back of her skull. Here she sat, reduced to a wet, chakra-less, _girl._

"If you keep that scowl on your face its gonna stick." Sakura looked at him out of the corner of her eye, not fully trusting him to remain human with her. Were those actual gills on his neck? They seemed much more prominent without his Akatsuki cloak on.

"Oh, I know you'll talk. Ya got this look in your eyes, like you want to rip my head off just for being here." Kisame chuckled as he leaned forward from his seat and placed his elbows on his knees, his sharp grin permanent on his smug face. She turned slightly to face him and studied her newest babysitter. What was his role in all of this? She knew her stare was only feeding his amusement and her bravery seemingly dissolved in her bath water.

The wooden door creaked open and Sakura jumped, eyes wide. Kisame stood with a stretch as Sasori walked in with a strange bundle in his hands. Those haunting brown eyes locking onto Sakura's immediately, his grin mocking at the sopping wet woman before him.

"Konan's old wardrobe has not yet been found so it seems you will have to wear this for the time being." Sasori remarked. Kisame met the red haired man before he could come too far and offered to take the package from him.

"Why thank you Sasori-san," The larger man began warmly, his frame blocking Sakura from seeing Sasori's reaction. A small grunt followed the older man's comment and with a final glance Sasori walked out from the onsen room, the tiniest of frowns on his face. Once the door had shut Kisame returned to his seat and stared at the fabric in his hands. "Sakura, right? Well I hope you don't mind that Sasori-san lent you his pajamas."

"What!" Sakura burst with a blush "I most certainly refuse, I will no touch anything that bastard gifted me!"

Her outburst echoed in the room and Sakura rose a hand to slap the water in rage. _"How dare he mark me like a territory to be claimed!"_ she thought angrily.

"Well you sure as hell won't fit in mine and I doubt you will want to parade around naked." Kisame reasoned, seemingly shocked at her vocalization. "What's wrong with these anyway? It's just some clean sweatpants and a t shirt-"

" ** _He's_ **trying to claim me, it's all a game for him!" the kunoichi in her chastised Sakura for her emotional rant, but screw the ninja rule book at the moment. None of its authors had ever been kidnapped by the infamous Akatsuki and been through what she has.

"You're losing your mind, Sasori-san wouldn't-" Kisame seemed to rethink his sentence, unsure of his initial thought process. "Ok, so he might try to play mind games, but won't you throw him off by going along with his little plan? Come on we have to meet leader-sama and as fun as watching you bath is, I would rather get on with my day."

Sakura huffed a pout, not only at her situation but at the fact that she was slowly seeing Kisame as the most human in the organization. "Fine," Sakura dunked her head under and scrubbed that long pink hair vigorously, carefully avoiding her the small clotted wound on the back. When she came back up, she noticed that Kisame had just shut the door, leaving her alone to dress in peace, perhaps a token of gratitude for her being so well behaved.

Sakura gave one last scrub to her hair under the water and rose from the water once she deemed the coast was clear. With wet pats small feet slapped against the wooden slaps of floor as she reached the large towel Kisame left on his chair, along with the pile of clothing Sasori so "graciously" offered.

" _Cocky, doll playing, bastard. Thinking I'll wear his damn clothing like a label."_ Sakura fingered the pants with dread. Certainly, she could just prance out of here in the towel…. And it seems Kisame might have taken the old robe rags with him to discourage her from trying to put those on again. Sakura cursed and sat down in the chair, cursing to high heaven as she angrily pulled on the long sweats. She found herself cursing more now than in Danzo's prison. _"Oh but my temper would be damn fine if I wasn't dodging death with these-these- these damn criminals!"_

With a final tug Sakura had pulled the large, plain shirt over her head and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. The various cuts catching on her fine, pastel locks, making Sakura wince with each tiny pain. Without a mirror in the room Sakura could only guess what her state her body was in, but the bruises along her arms and their nasty purple and yellow shades told her that perhaps the lack of mirrors was a good thing.

With a final ruffle of her hair, Sakura squared her shoulders and made her way to the world beyond the wooden door before her.

_

I'm sorry it took so long! Whew! These past 2 weeks were full of exams for me and I feel as if I've been neglecting you guys (insert crying emoji). But good news! Thanksgiving break is coming up next week and I'll be sure to upload as many chapters as I can during that time period! I got ideas and I've been brainstorming the romance side of this so I can't wait to finally get it out there for yall to read!

As always, let me know if you like where this is going!


	7. Chapter 7

Wow y'all struggling on this! I have so many RANDOM ideas for this piece, but I'm not sure how to connect them! AHHHHHHH! I also feel bad leaving you guys hanging since I can't reliably update every week… I want to apologize for that, but my schooling comes first. However, winter break is coming up and I'll have no classes for a whole month! So you can expect many updates then! 

IMPORTANT: I've included a kinda tense situation that is boarder line sorta rapey. I'll put stars (**) before it happens so you can skip it if this is a triggering scenario for you. Please don't leave me for this, I promise it is not a large part of this story!

As always I don't own Naruto and now on to the show!

* * *

Kisame had led her in through the double doors and walked in with her, but where the shark man was in the room was a mystery. Her pupils tried to dilate to accommodate the darkness, but to no avail; the seemingly endless black pit from hell continued on forever to her knowledge. Just as she was about to voice her irritation at their stereotypical villain behavior, a light flickered behind a seemingly large desk in front of Sakura. Ringed violet eyes starred at her in silence, seemingly awaiting for her to make a move. The rainbow glow from the hologram produced enough light for Sakura to see a plain wooden chair in front of the desk and was within arm's length in case she decided to sit or throw the damn object in frustration.

"Please," The hologram said in a distinctively audible tone "Sit."

Sakura straightened her spine and crossed her arms under her unbound breasts. While Sasori had been "kind" enough to lend her his clothing, it seemed he perhaps forgot about the possibility that she might like to have underwear. She remained silent and made her way to the chair with a stiff posture. Her face was steeled in a mask of focus and indifference, even though her internal monologue wanted nothing more than to tear this Akatsuki leader a new one.

Once seated the hologram immediately jumped into conversation, his eyes seemingly reading her thoughts and seeing into her very soul. "First, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our humble abode. I trust you found the amenities to your satisfaction. Your room will leave much to desired as of now, but within due time you will be able to add or remove any object or furnishings you need."

Sakura pinched the back of her hand. Was this man asking how she liked her room? Where were the death threats, the tools of torture?

"It…. is quaint."

"I am sure you're still quite tired from the events leading up to this, so I shall make this fast. You will be joining Akatsuki as head medic and mission fill in when necessary. You have caused quite a commotion recently and I'll be withholding your pay for the first week to determine whether you are a flight risk or not. Should you choose to flee you will face serious repercussions."

"The fuck I will." Sakura had had enough; screw death, she would not be bossed around by men any longer. "You have no use for a chunin from a dead village."

He continued after blinking, his eyes glancing down at a hologramed folder in his grasp. "Yes, your records within the bingo book and village roster are unremarkable," at this Sakura scowled at the man, steam nearly coming out of her ears as she heard a chuckle in the back of the room somewhere "but only to the naked eye. I like to think myself a master of selecting only the best and seeing past the false records of a village are easy for a person in my standing. Don't you think Haruno-san?"

Sakura held her breath, surely he's bluffing. He couldn't know about things unrecorded.

The violet eyes pierced hers in the darkness knowingly. "Haruno-san, if you would be so gracious as to undo the covering on your left arm, I believe your new team mates have every right to know you on a deeper level."

The blood in Sakura's veins ran cold, the very room around her seemed to drop in temperature, its silence unnerving. Tsunade had given her the tattoo in secrete and sent her on solo missions only under the cover of night. There was never a witness of her missions within ANBU and she had even gone so far as to cover her hair completely when she left the safety of the village walls.

Who was this man?

"Never." Sakura bit as she uncrossed her arms and stood abruptly, ready to lunge over the desk "Just who the hell are you." Long gone was the mask of indifference. Her eyebrows drew together as she lashed out at the man in front of her.

Before she could even breath, strong hands grasped her and pushed her back down into the chair roughly. Sakura growled in anger, why was everyone touching her today?!

Sakura released the skin henge once she saw she wasn't going anywhere and stared back at the man hologramed before her, refusing to meet the red eyed gaze that she knew was holding her in her seat. Even though she remained silent, her eyes clearly communicated her murderous intent, and no one seemed to keen on allowing her to have a tantrum while the leader was around.

"Arigato, now on to more pressing matters. Your medical and scientific knowledge are renowned throughout the lands and Akatsuki has needs for your talents. With you we will-"

"Get your hands ** _off_** me Uchiha."

Apparently yelling at the almighty Itachi was not something he was use to. A large calloused hand went for her neck and Sakura instinctively jabbed her elbow into his groin area, an attack he narrowly dodged and opened Sakura up for a moment of escape from his grip. She leaped over the chair and nearly clawed his precious red eyes from his skull before blue chakra strings attached to her arms midair.

Oh lovely, _he_ was here.

"Haruno-san you're being terribly unprofessional-"

"Oh, you would know all about that, Uchiha!"

If it was possible, Sakura swore she heard either Deidara's or Kisame's jaws hit the floor from somewhere in the dark room.

"I assure you Haruno-san, my men are all under complete control to be model shinobi while in your presence." Did the hologram develop a glitch or did the man's eye actually twitch?

"He **_kissed_** me!" Sakura seethed in rage as she was forced to sit in the chair, the chakra strings seemingly increasing their hold on her.

"False. I made use of your weakness and utilized it to disarm you."

Deidara was laughing from somewhere behind them, his howling echoing through the cave/room/ lair of evil. The man before them looked exhausted, but the only indication was the slight slouch in his shoulders.

"You have concerns about the kunoichi, Itachi-san?" He asked, not bothering to ask Sakura how it felt to be attacked by the clan killer's talented lips.

Wait. What?

"The kunoichi appears to be poorly trained in the arts of seduction and overall kunoichi roles. Specific missions for her will be troublesome and unsuccessful with her lack of experience."

Oh, kami someone kill her now. The laughter in the back was no doubt from both Kisame and Deidara, probably holding each other up from rolling on the ground.

"My knowledge says otherwise, but all skills deteriorate over time. Itachi, you will be instructing her in all aspects of her training. I expect this to be complete within a month."

What. The. Fuck. Was. Happening.

"Hai, Leader-sama."

"Fuck no I –"

With that the hologram flickered out and the glowing chakra string maneuvered her to walked (presumably) towards the door. The bright lights from the hallway temporarily blinded her as Kisame pushed the door open and she continued to walk towards the direction of the bedroom she destroyed.

"She will need a new mattress, perhaps a foam one this time so no weapons can be utilized."Sasori oh so graciously reminded Itachi as he stalked next to them down the hallway.

"That won't be necessary," Itachi nonchalantly mentioned "She will spend the remainder of the month in my care."

"No."

Her revolt and disgust were evident.

"Haruno-san," Itachi began without sparing her a glance "If I'm not mistaken Leader-sama gave me full reign to instruct you until I see that your skills and talents meet Akatsuki quality. You're no more useful to us than a genin at this point and I would rather not leave my life in unskilled hands."

His condescending tone echoed through her mind. If it wasn't for Sasori's chakra strings then she would have jumped the man before her and shown him how unskilled her hands were as they strangled the life from him. She hardened her glare and refused to look at him.

"You're a psychopath."

"I prefer the term 'creative'." Itachi said without even a twitch of annoyance at her carelessly thrown insult. He slowed to a stop and opened the door without hesitation, it seems they finally reached his room. "Sasori-san, I believe I can handle our newest member from here." His polite commentary left little room for argument and Sakura felt the constricting strings break from her body, snapping back into the redhead's finger tips.

"Don't look so glum my blossom, I'll only be a few doors down if you find your company too 'creative' for your tastes." And with a small chuckle Sasori walked down the hallway "Itachi-san, do call if you need any assistance with your task.". The red head made a final turn out of sight, leaving Sakura to pale upon hearing the innuendo.

She briefly pleaded to Kami that the Akatsuki were above rape, but she clearly remembered Hidan threatening the very thing at the time of her capture.

Tears pricked at her eyes, but she would not let them fall. Sakura turned toward the room and walked in with small steps, each one heavier than the last. Her heart felt as if it would beat out of her chest at the rate it was going, but she did her best to remain calm. Itachi had moved to a door that seemingly led to a closet, but her focus was on the large bookcase across from the king-sized bed. She wandered in the direction of it and cautiously raised her hand to trail a finger over a few of the titles he possessed. Volumes upon volumes of scrolls full of various jutsu stacked on top of each other while many textbooks and other forms of educational reading sat on the shelf above them. Sakura did not guess him to be the type to study textbooks for information, but then again, he was considered a prodigy from a young age, so this should surprise her. His extensive collection of physiology and ocular anatomy was incredible, and she would love to study more on those particular sets if he ever allowed her to.

"Each member is granted a suite once they prove to be trustworthy in the organization," Itachi began as pulled a pillow from the closet and tossed it on the bed "For the time being you are to stay here with me, so I may better acquaint myself with you and we can make progress on your training. For now, I ask that you disclose all the training you've received thus far."

 _Betray your country, tell me what I want to know, allow me to know your weaknesses._

Sakura shivered, but she told herself that it was due to the cold room surrounding her, not the man before her. "Uchiha-san….I cannot do that, you know that." She hesitantly spoke, suddenly aware that she was in the lion's den. She dared not face the nin as she defied him, but out of the corner of her eye she could see his dark eyes turn crimson.

Sakura held her breath, was he trying to scare her into submission? She was powerless, chakra less, _weak_ in unfamiliar territory surrounded by s-class enemies. Even though she had been Tsunade's private ANBU, she was never categorized as an S level shinobi.

The raven haired man brought himself closer with a calculated step "The Konoha you knew is gone. You are not betraying it, but the military state that Danzo has created. With your insight and knowledge Akatsuki can restore balance to the world and put an end to Danzo's life." With his hands hidden within the sleeves of his Akatsuki robe Sakura couldn't predict what he was planning.

" _Poison? A kunai? A tanto could be a possibility."_ She shifted into a defensive stance and faced him head on, focusing only on the collar of his robe. Kakashi had taught her well and she would be damned to face his torture in mangekyou. Sakura's fingers twitched and she instantly missed the feel of her worn leather gloves. Their absence only reminded her unprepared she was for what was about to come.

An arm jerked forward from under the robe and Sakura jumped left, only to be frozen in her tracks. A pale blue threads of chakra left Itachi's finger tips; the quivered slightly before returning to a straight line.

"Let me go! This is unnecessary Uchiha! I-"

"I am trying to have a conversation with you-"

"And I'm trying to avoid it! We aren't talking about this Uchiha. Haven't you tortured me enough for one day?!" Sakura was extremely uncomfortable that Itachi had learned an inconvenient puppet jutsu assumingly for the very purpose he was still trying to talk to her about. She was as weak as a kitten and at the complete mercy of the infamous clan killer. He stalked forward and Sakura remained vigilant in her struggles; it seemed he could not keep the strings strength up if she moved too much and she hoped to snap them before he was within reach.

"You're observant Kunoichi, but this is a lesson that both of us must learn from should future missions be successful-"

Sakura bristled at the thought "I will **_not_** be a sex doll thrown carelessly about for your benefit, I would sooner **_die._** " She seethed with as much hatred as she could muster "If I turned down those missions for my village then you sure as hell can believe I'll turn down any I receive here."

From the limited vision Sakura allowed herself she could see the slightest smirk on his lips just above the collar of his robe.

 _Fuck._

"It seems Deidara's assumptions were correct, he said you were rather prudish when he tried to make advances at the imperial palace. No matter," Sakura stood frozen, externally and internally as she processed what she just said to him. With jerky movements his controlled strings walked her backwards until her knees hit the bedside, her heart rate escalated even higher if that was possible. "I'll be gentle" Itachi's voice seemed to drop an octave and gain a huskier roughness about it, something that twisted Sakura's stomach in what she feared was not disgust, but arousal. Her wide eyes, still refusing to meet his, couldn't move from his collar and she felt another light shiver roll through her body.

"No- no don't, just don't I'll tell you what you need-"

"Ah, but you already have Sakura" The drop of the honorific scared Sakura more, tears threatening to make themselves known. ' _No he will not see me cry. I am stronger than this'_

"I will hate you, more than I do now Uchiha. I'll gut you for this, strangle you with your insides. Its pathetic, you must force yourself onto a woman-"

"I assure you I do not, I could make this _quite_ enjoyable. But perhaps I'm not the Uchiha you've saved this for." His free hand grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes, but she was not ready for what she saw. The hair was short and ruffled with more of a midnight blue shine to it and even the smirk he wielded against her was identical to that of her ex-teammate.

In her stunned silence Sakura remembered to breath and fight as she felt him draw closer to her neck. A frantic kick was all she managed before he controlled her once more, opting to use his own hands now instead of the tiresome chakra strings that trapped her before. Her back hit the headboard lightly and a true sense of panic enveloped Sakura.

"This- its an illusion! You're not Sasuke-"

"Oh? If this is an illusion then why have you not dispelled it?" the 'Sasuke' before her chuckled as he continued to lean into her neck and scrap his teeth against her collarbone.

Both knew the answer, but Sakura refused to give in. The small, hopeless fan girl was long gone from the years of grueling training. She would not be weak. Eyes wide with fright she gasped at the sudden contact between them. Any escape now was impossible, but to give in was to-

A hand slithered its way up her shirt and gripped her hip in a possessive fashion, drawing her closer into him. "Admit it Sakura, you like this, you want this. It feels real and the reality is you're just a foolish little girl still in love with my otouto." And with that 'Sasuke' slammed his lips to hers in a brutal manner.

 _'No, NO!'_ Sakura screamed mentally as she skewed her eyes shut, her chakra pathways rushing to her forehead in panic.

And tore herself from Itachi Utchiha's genjutsu.

* * *

Sharingan genjutsu's required extreme and precise chakra control to manipulate victims and prevent simple "Kai" releases. In the rich history of his clan, Itachi had never heard of a scenario in which a victim _could_ escape someone of high caliber such as himself. To say her dispelling of the genjutsu hurt would be a severe understatement. A light trail of blood flowed from his tear canals as he gripped his forehead in agony with a groan. When was the last time he felt pain like this? Just what had she done?

He urged the headache to go away and brought himself to focus his gaze on the now unconscious kunoichi in his bed. Her brow furrowed in pure pain as she lay sprawled out among the wrinkled black comforter. Itachi's concentration refocused on the obnoxious chakra presence outside his door, it seemed they had gained an audience.

"Enter." He said stoically, not bothering to see who it was. There was no need, he had long since memorized the chakra patterns of his allies.

"Did she provide you trouble?" Sasori said after the door clicked shut, his brown eyes observing the small woman sprawled on the bed "I thought we agreed I would be of assistance should you need stronger chakra strings."

Itachi was still too stunned to bother being insulted, he stood and moved to the book shelf to begin his search for answers "Hn. She broke the sharingan." He simply stated as Sasori made his way to the bed to begin searching for any damage done.

"This is impossible Itachi-san. The Haruno clan is limited to her now, with her prior ancestors being civilians and peasants. How could a simple, little girl beat the Sharingan?"

"The same way a simple, little girl beat an Akatsuki member." Itachi shot back with only a hint of malice at Sasori's tone. Both men starred at each other for a second, but neither believed a fight over words was worth it. Itachi sat down in the chair beside the bed and began flipping pages from an old tome, dust lightly floating onto his robe.

"She will kill you when she discovers she's immune to your eyes." Sasori smirked as he brushed a stray pink strand from her clammy face. "It might be best to move her to a cell for your safety."

"I appreciate the gesture, but I will keep her here until we've completed her training," the raven haired man casually declared "Haruno-san might be the ticket to advancing the sharingan further than it has even gone."

* * *

Okkkkkkk so y'all still there? Again, I've got tons of ideas so I hope I didn't lose you there! Loads of sassy things I've been dying to have people say and I've been writting all of them down just for this story! The Sasuke bit was a surprise, but it came from a comic I saw online from an unknown author. Gomen if I offended anyone, but I tried to be safe and rate this M for a reason!


	8. Chapter 8

First off, WOW ON THOSE REVIEWS! Guy seriously it makes my day to see so many of you enjoying this! I don't think I'm the best at communicating what I think so thank you for everything! I know updates have been slow and irregular, and I really do try to make sure they come soon so y'all don't get bored and abandon me, but I also want to make sure I'm providing you with quality content instead of quantity that sucks!

* * *

Sakura's dreams were haunted by red skies, murders of crows, and the haunting sound of footsteps behind her. No matter how many times she turned around to frantically search for her stalker, they seemed to vanish, leaving the heavy foot prints to continue their noise without an owner. For what felt like days Sakura ran through the dark landscape of the world she was in, hoping to find an end, but to no avail. Had Itachi abandoned her here? Was this her punishment for denying him? What was happening in the real world?

The thought made Sakura stop and shake with worry. No matter how strong she may have become over these past few years, rape was a very real threat for any kunoichi. She had seen its aftermath in the hospitals she worked, each victim still etched into her memory. She shook her head and sat on the ground ignoring the footsteps that seemed to surround her. His pattern in this genjutsu was stuck, on repeat without any actual purpose….. what was his gain? Sakura plopped to the ground gracelessly, took deep even breaths, and settled her focus on her mind, searching for a gate to the real world. If she could pick up on any of her senses, smell, touch, taste, then she could focus on that and escape. Kai releases were her specialty, but the sharingan was a creature she knew not how to break. Sakura slowly slipped her eye lids shut and brought her hands to rest on her feet in a meditation pose, the foot steps sounded louder and louder, but if Itachi thought that would distract her then her was wrong. She had grown up with the knuckle head ninja of leaf and nothing could ever compare to the distractions he provided.

The thought of Naruto strengthened her resolve and just as the thundering foots steps reached her side, they immediately vanished. The surrounding environment was eerily silent without the noise. Sakura peeked open her emerald eyes and noted that what use to be a dark red sky was now a pleasant light blue, anything that had been black before was now covered in what looked like fresh snow.

And before her was a mirror that held another Sakura nearly identical to herself. It seemed to stare into her soul with glowing white eyes in place of her emerald irises.

 _"Long time no see sweetie"_ it said with an enthusiastic smirk. Was this the entity that forced Ino out of her mind so long ago? As if sensing her question, the mirror or 'Inner' Sakura flipped her long hair over her shoulder and stood from her seated position. She walked as close as possible to the mirror and motioned for Sakura to come closer, placing her hand on the mirror glass that separated them.

 _"Our strength has only intensified since you took on the Strength of a Hundred Seal. Genjutsu's are too easy for me now. Itachi had better think twice before messing around in your head from now on."_ Inner Sakura practically purred in satisfaction. Hesitantly Sakura placed her hand on the mirror over her reflections and looking into the bottomless white eyes before she felt a sudden pressure on her temple _"Oh Sakura? Do us both a favor and get laid, I think it's about time, neh?"_

The last thing Sakura saw was a bright flash from the snow surrounding her, Inner's chuckle echoing in her head.

* * *

The pressure on Sakura's temple increased into a migraine as Sakura fought to open her eyes. The air around her was cool, but her body itself was warm and soft. How long had she been out? Minutes? Days? She groaned in pain and tried to bring a hand up to soothe the ever-present pulsing, but her wrist met slight resistance at the thin string attached it.

"Hello blossom, have a nice nap?" A rich voice sounded from nearby, it seemed she would forever have a babysitter present even while she slept.

Another harsh pulse left tears in Sakura's still closed eyes, but the string detached and allowed her freedom. "Not now Sasori, I- Kami what did I get hit with? A fucking building?" Sakura ground out between clenched teeth as she accessed her medical chakra to search for damages done. His silence was welcome, but the slight rustle of fabric alerted Sakura of his movements towards her. Why oh why couldn't anyone just leave her be?

"Itachi says you broke the Sharingan." Her breathing hitched at the redhead's input. Was that what Inner was talking about? Before she could protest, he sat on the edge of her bed. Sakura felt the dip in the bed as he settled, and her stomach clenched nervously. Her bright green eyes were shut in pain as she focused on searching for the source of pain in her head. "You suffered no physical injuries, you won't find what you're looking for," Sasori began as he reached for her healing hand. She needed to stop wasting her limited chakra on that and just put up with the headache like everyone else does.

Sakura turned her head and kept her eyes shut to which Sasori tssked in annoyance "Open your eyes, you can't pretend I'm just not here. I-"

"I am the doctor and I'm telling you that if I open my photosensitive eyes after experiencing the mental circus I just went through then I. Will. Throw. Up." It seemed her stomach was not nervous as it roiled angerly inside her.

Oh, too late.

At the first heave Sakura rolled away from him, hopefully towards the other edge of the bed but she felt a chakra string attached at the back of her head and guide it to a bucket that also was controlled by another blue string. The second heave followed seconds later and she unleashed the bile that had been sitting in her empty stomach. When she deemed it was safe the pinkette tugged away from the vile smelling bucket and fell on her back while throwing her arm over her face. Honestly, she had worse luck than Tsunade.

"You need to eat more, you're practically wasting away." Sasori chastised as he moved to place the bucket on the ground next to the bed.

"I'll get right on that." Sakura muttered, finally thankful that the pain was ebbing away and her thoughts were becoming more clear. The nuke-nin stood and disappeared for a moment, hopefully to leave her to rest, but returned seconds later.

"Sit, or do your require help with that as well?" Sasori asked in a gentle manner Sakura did not know he could possess. A strong hand slid itself under her back and lifted slowly while Sakura made adjustments to her position. Being a medical ninja, she had been in Sasori's role more times than she could count, but to be the patient was humiliating. She cursed her weakness and allowed his touch to continue knowing that it was medically necessary.

Cool glass suddenly touched her dry lips and with a gentle tilt Sakura drank the water provided in small sips. Feeling as though the worse was over, Sakura removed her shaky hand their place over her eyes and opened them. "I'm fine….thank you…" No sense in being rude. She took the glass from his hand, careful to avoid further touches and placed it on the side table next to the bedside.

"This is ridiculous." Sakura bitterly muttered. None of this should have happened, she was _weak._ The Akatsuki don't take weak people, they kill them.

"Aa, but you are recovering from a delicate scenario. Itachi-"

"Don't talk about him, he's the reason I'm in this mess."

Sasori gripped her chin and jerked it toward him, uncaring if she had recovered yet. It seems she had finally worn out his patience. "You are a kunoichi, you live and die for the missions given to you and Itachi-san is trying to be nice enough to prepare you for what may come. Based on your previous reaction I presume its safe to say your village did not partake in deflowering kunoichi before sending them into the field?" Sakura blushed and weakly struggled to rip her chin out of his grasp, which only led him to apply more pressure. "This puts you in a difficult position Sakura, but be grateful at least you have a choice-"

"A choice of who rapes me is no choice at all!" Sakura had succeeded in ripping her chin from his grasp and threw herself off the bed in a haste. "I'm a lamb being led to the slaughter, and you are so willing to hand me over to him!" She was in a battle stance, but Sasori remained seated on the bed watching her carefully, internally pleased her energy was burning brightly once more.

"Who said anything about handing you over?" his chocolate eyes bore into jade. Everything about the man screamed 'danger' to the kunoichi, but it was no longer associated with warfare. The shine in his orbs held lust, but everything else about him screamed 'enemy'. Now her mind could only imagine what other things he could use the puppetry jutsu for.

Sakura stared back in alarm, more at her previous thought than anything else and took a step back. With her back to the door Sakura knew she had the upper hand on escaping the room, but then what? Run to Kisame crying about how unfair life was? Or what if she ran into Hidan and he took away her virginity?

In her musing Sakura must have not heard the door behind her open and strong arm encircled her waist, effectively trapping her against a muscular chest. She gasped lightly, but the warm breath at her ear made the kunoichi freeze, her eyes shutting abruptly so the still present Sasori could not see her true fear nor lust.

"Go to the bed Sakura." Itachi's voice rung in her ears as she tensed. No, not like this. Not here, not now, not with Sasori.

"Your eyes cannot control me _Uchiha_ ," Sakura hissed in malice "I will not give into you."

With a gentle nudge Itachi moved Sakura closer towards the bed and she almost screamed. She could practically feel his amusement at the whole situation, only making her more resistant. "Now is not the time, for now we need to work on regaining your health. You are worthless to Akatsuki if you are dead."

"Huh?"

Perhaps it was not the most intelligent thing Sakura could have said, but at the moment she was relatively confused. Her eyes shot open and realized that in Itachi's other hand was a large bowl of udon, the steam from its broth filling her senses and making her mouth water. Even though she remained tense, and a blush resent on her pale cheeks, Sakura willed her self to walk towards the bed with Itachi close behind. Her nausea had long since passed, but the unease in her stomach made her less than excited for the meal. Sakura took the bowl from Itachi's hands, careful to not touch them, and hesitantly sipped on the savory broth, refusing to meet his eyes as he sat down on the bed opposite of Sasori.

"I will not yield Uchiha-san," Sakura said in between a small sip of broth. She knew the punishment for disobedience, yet his Sharingan held no power over her.

He seemed to release a soft sigh, but continued with his piercing stare none the less "You are a member of Akatsuki now despite how you feel about the organization. You are not the first to join unwillingly and you will not be the last," Itachi handed her the chopsticks that belonged with the meal and she blushed realizing she had began eating without her utensils.

She stared at her bowl, a small piece of naruto bobbed in the liquid and reminded her of her missing friend. What would he think of her for joining Akatsuki? Or Tsunade? Ino? Sasuke?

Sakura reminded herself to breath and sat in the tense silence as she contemplated the recent events in her life. Sasuke was still missing, Naruto no where to be found along with Tsunade. Ino and Kakashi were seemingly held prisoner by Danzo along with a majority of other Konoha ninja. What would Shikamaru do in this situation?

"May I make a request?" Sakura hesitantly whispered, her eyes still downcast into her udon. The strong do no ask for permission, but the manipulative play what ever cards they can.

Sensing a change in attitude Sasori adjusted his seating. "What do you want little girl? Surely you wouldn't be so stupid to ask us to stop chasing the Kyubi?"

Sakura glared at him weakly, clearly displeased with his choice of words. "I am no fool Sasori, but my life is over and I will continue to live my will of fire." She promptly ignored Itachi's ignorant scoff as she continued "Naruto is to be taken last, so that I may research a way to remove his demon without ending his life. In return I will obey Leader-sama's orders, I just ask for a little time." She glanced up at Itachi and rose her chin, trying to appear stronger than she really was. If she could buy Naruto a little more time then he could become strong enough to save Konoha, and ultimately the world, from the Akatsuki. She knew it. He only needed time.

Itachi considered her proposition and shifted slightly, the kunoichi made an excellent point, but he had zero faith in her loyalty. When it came down to it, she would sacrifice her life for Konoha and the kyubi. He had seen it before. "You should be grateful enough to have the offer extended to you, leader-sama will not be pleased to hear you are now making requests."

Sakura chewed on the udon noodle she fished out of her bowl and thought about her situation, surely there was a way around all of this? She glanced at Sasori, still confused why he was present and not Kisame, whom she'd grown attached. "Allow me to talk to him," Sakura spoke to Sasori now, seeing where she could get with him. "I am Tsunade-shishou's trusted ambassador of Leaf. I am more than capable of speaking to the feared Leader of Akatsuki with respect and dignity if allowed."

Sasori considered her words momentarily, then slowly turned to Itachi. **_"It seems all the men look to the elder Uchiha for permission. Pussies."_** Inner lazily voiced her opinions in Sakura's head. With a timid glance Sakura too looked to Itachi, realizing Sasori would give her nothing useful. He was from Konoha, he knew how many enemies their village had and she was smart enough to create treaties and pacts of loyalty with seemingly hostile leaders. Her experience out weighed the years she had spent on this earth, but even so would he allow this meeting to happen?

Itachi betrayed nothing of his thoughts as he continued to stare at her, his eyes moving ever so slightly as he studied her. Sakura took another small bite of the udon and chewed awkwardly as the Akatsuki members stared at her. Just as she was about to voice her question again Sasori stood silently " You two have much to talk about, I'll leave you to it," but before he left the cold room he turned his gaze over his shoulder to look at the cherry blossom once more "Do let me know if you require any assistance, _Sakura_."

His deliberate lack of -san ruffled Sakura's feathers and he knew it. As the door shut, Itachi moved and startled her, the broth spilling slightly onto her lap.

"Now," Itachi stood to make his way to the book case opposite of the bed "Tell me of your training with Konoha."

* * *

To say Sakura was embarrassed was fair, but she wasn't dead, raped or crying and that's all that mattered. Itachi had only asked questions that would dictate where she would start her training with him, and mercifully avoided questions that would receive resistance on her part. Perhaps the worse part was when he mentioned Sasuke, _"Would you be able to fight him to the death if it came to it?"_ Itachi had asked confidently. At first Sakura held her breath, how many people knew about her prior love for the raven haired man?

 _"Yes."_ The pinkette answered confidently, feeling and air of power within her slowly recovering body. Whether that was the answer Itachi wanted or not he did not say, the mysterious man only moved forward with his brief interrogation and for that she was grateful.

 ** _"But his persistence on other matters are somewhat annoying."_** Inner huffed inside Sakura's mind.

It seemed that it was well past midnight when they finished discussing Sakura's training and just when she expected the quiet Uchiha to leave, he proceeded to remove his shirt and head towards the bathroom.

"Excuse me? What are you doing?" Sakura glared from her position on the bed.

He had already disappeared into the connecting bathroom, but Sakura could still hear him clearly as he answered "I intend to sleep in my bed tonight if it is not too much trouble Haruno-san."

With a gruff Sakura grabbed the small throw blanket on the foot of the bed and made her way to the corner near the book shelf. If he was going to be a prick about their living arrangements, which he offered in the first place, then fine.

Sakura dozed off to the sound of the shower running, its soothing rhythm reminding her of a soft summer rain in her village. She had just felt sleep claiming her when a hand grabbed her shoulder. Startled, the kunoichi defended herself and grappled with her attacker. Nimble hands managed to grab at a neck before Sakura realized that the damp, charcoal hair dangling in her view was Itachi and not some would be assassin.

His grin disturbed Sakura, making her uncomfortable as he kneeled beside her "You will sleep in the bed, this is part of training."

"What?! I will do no such thing," Sakura sleepily fought as she struggled to sit up. "This was not the plan."

"Oh?" His amused tone irritated Sakura, it made her fists itch to punch him in his smug face "Think of this as a simple trust building exercise. It is nothing different than your time spent in Naruto-san's bed.

Sakura's face blushed for the thousandth time that day "It's different you're-" She promptly closed her mouth and wished she hadn't spoke at all, a feat which Itachi obviously noticed "you're not Ino, nor Naruto, nor a team member of Konoha. and you already know that Naruto and I never thought of sleep together like _that._ " The words essentially spewed from her mouth before she could stop them, only making her situation worse. The usually stoic calculating eyes of the Uchiha were startlingly warm and amused.

"Men are men whether you are on a team with them or not, the warmth of a woman in their bed is enough to-"

"Stop, stop, stop! We are not discussing that, I'm drawing the line!" Sakura wiggled around him and wrapped the small blanket around her as she begrudgingly drug her feet to the large bed. "Its late, I'm tired, and if you're going to kick my ass tomorrow then I'm at least going to be well rested for it." and with that the tiny, frail, exhausted kunoichi fell asleep, curled on the left side of the bed.

This woman was certainly something else, Itachi silently thought to himself as he lifted the covers and joined her in bed on the opposite side. Her training would being tomorrow in basic ninja arts, something he was sure she was lacking on, but the emotional training would start now. He needed this woman to bend to his every wish, to yearn for his approval as she did with her other sensei's. In time she would become a valuable tool for developing his sharingan to levels never before achieved.

A final smirk, more sinister than the last graced his face as he allowed sleep to consume him. Yes, Sakura Haruno would become his perfect tool.

* * *

I AM SO SORRY ITS BEEN FOREVER AH. Its break, I'm gonna try to crank out at least one more chapter before school starts again in mid January, but I want quality. This chapter was hard for me and I'm afraid y'all are gonna read it and think its terrible and leave me (insert sobbing chibi me in a corner). I'm still here and alive and I got ideas but I don't wanna ruin them but ow ow they are good! Now I just need to figure out how to make the story connect all the dots….


	9. Chapter 9

Ok on to the next part! I think I'm going to make this story into different stories, just to break it up is all! But to do this I need reviews, thoughts, likes, send a messenger bird if you have to! Just let me know yall are still there!

I unfortunately don't own Naruto

Sakura dreamt of red skies clashing with white snow, the silence of it all was unnerving as she trudged along in the oddly warm environment. How could snow like this exist if the air was so warm? Beside her Inner jumped from snow drift to snow drift, seemingly entertained by her new environment. She hadn't spoken the entire time, perhaps it was only in her dreams when she was silent.

As Sakura continued her hike to nowhere, she tripped on a hidden log and Inner laughed from somewhere in the trees. Sakura made a move to get up, but something held fast onto her leg. Annoyed she brushed away the snow trying to unlatch her ankle from what ever tree root she might have been tangled in. Just as she could visualize her shin area, Sakura froze at what was actually gripping her.

Below the snow, was the frozen body of Ino Yamanaka, loosely gripping both of Sakura's ankles in silence. Her skin was paler than the snow its self, ice blue eyes colder than death starred back at Sakura, daring her to move from her entrapment.

"You left me Sakura," Ino whispered as fire erupted from around her body. "You left me and Kakashi to die. You always wanted us dead."

Sakura tried to tell her no, she tried to pull her legs free, but each yank only angered the blonde and her grip tightened.

"You're going to get everyone killed, you will be the death of Konoha."

More hands reached up from the ground and pulled Sakura's legs tighter together, constricting them in a painful manner. The more Sakura fought, the hotter and more painful he legs felt.

"You will be the death of me." A new voice sounded, Sakura turned her head to look at it, but all that greeted her was a decaying Naruto, his rotting body lunging towards with a growl echoing in her ears.

Sakura woke with a start and remained frozen in place, fearful that even the slightest movement would bring her nightmare to life. The blanket from before was wound around her legs and tangled them so they could not move, potentially the trigger for the terrors she just witnessed in her head. Sakura briefly wondered how that happened, but the heat on her back caught her attention.

Apparently, Sakura decided to become a cuddler in the middle of the night. Her body fit every curve her bed partner had, fitting them together snuggly like two very dangerous puzzle pieces. Still frozen from her nightmare, and now the awkward situation, Sakura hesitated to breath. This was the clan killer, the 13-year-old anbu captain, the s-class criminal.

And here she was snuggling up to him like a kitten.

How could he not notice? Or did he not care?

"Sleep." Itachi muttered. The abrupt sound coming from him was enough to make Sakura jump violently. He gave an amused huff, but Sakura threw herself out of bed and made her way to the door before he could force her to stay in bed. "Escape is futile." Red eyes glowed in the dark room, trying to intimidate Sakura, but nothing could compare to the vivid nightmare she just experienced.

"Hai, Hai, I get it. I can't sleep, let me get a cup of tea." She meant to sound stronger than she did, but the slight crack of her voice she blamed on her dry throat. She would never admit it was really due to the scream she had wanted to let out when Naruto lunged at her.

Itachi's eyes stopped glowing and his dark form returned to its prone position, a sign of permission to leave that Sakura was more than thankful for. She needed to escape the room, even if only for a bit. Any more than 30 minutes and the Uchiha would come hunting for her and racing him again was not high on Sakura's to do list.

Her tiny feet pattered down the dimly lit hallway towards what she thought was the kitchen. She could sense each chakra behind the heavy wooden doors she passed, their subtle patterns slow and even as they slept, but the largest one was lively and coming from just a few feet up ahead. As Sakura made her way towards it re recognized the high archway that marked the kitchen entrance. Perhaps she would have company with her tea.

"Well what do ya know? Why you up kitten?" Kisame's rough voice sounded from the counter that he leaned on, a cup of warm sake in one hand steamed lightly and danced around his grinning face.

Sakura was suddenly self-conscious of the long sleeping t-shirt she wore. Even if it reached her knees she wasn't thrilled at the idea of being pant less around these shinobi "I couldn't sleep." Sakura lied, there was no sense in telling this man about her obnoxious nightmare "Where is the tea pot? I thought I would make some tea if you had any…"

Kisame threw back the sake and gently placed the cup in the sink "Too high up for a squirt like you, lemme grab that." Sure enough the pot was in a cabinet above the refrigerator, a height Sakura would have had to climb for if she had to get it herself. The blue nin set about warming water and wandered to the pantry for some tea leaves, leaving Sakura standing unsure in the middle of the kitchen. "Itachi has the best collection and he won't mind if we share some, I'm sure."

Taking from Itachi felt dangerous, but Kisame was being so helpful that she couldn't bear to stop him. How was a man like him with these criminals? Sakura knew the answer of course, but nothing about him seemed criminal in these settings. "Kisame-san, I-"

"Tsk you make me feel old, call me Kisame, honorifics are for the old men kitten." The elder ninja grumped as he gently swirled the leaves in the kettle.

"Kisame, why….are you nice?" Sakura started hesitantly, unsure of how the man would respond.

He laughed a quiet chuckle and set the table with two cups and a plate of dango he managed to conjure out of thin air "Nice? Check that there bingo book kiddo, my bounty says I ain't nice!" Blue hands gripped the kettle with a soft grace that surprised Sakura and her eyes took on a studious look. Men that looked like Kisame rarely survived this cruel world without some sort of protection. She had thought him a lawless man who lived for the bloodshed of war, but outlaws were not as careful with a teapot as he was.

Little information was available on the Akatsuki members, but her past experience as a diplomate for Konoha had led her to learn that some of the most dangerous shinobi in this world were graced with kekei genkai and generally belonged to formidable ancient clans. Though Sakura was jealous of those who were genetically better ninja than her, she never wished for the strict rules the clans had for their members. Was Kisame from an unknown mist clan? Surely he did not tattoo gills on his neck nor paint his skin that worrisome cyan color.

He poured the tea with refined practice, a grace the kunoichi could appreciate seeing as she failed the tea ceremony three times in Konoha. "You seem awfully well cultured for a criminal." Sakura stared into his black eyes with a curiosity she failed to hide.

"Mah, when you're as old as I am you got time to practice this type of stuff. Besides, if I couldn't do this then the poor match makers in the village would never be able to marry off this ugly mug!" His deep bellied laugh was warming. Sakura couldn't help but smile as he laughed at his own joke "We aren't that uncivilized in Mist, but you Konoha kids always like to demonize us."

Sakura sipped her tea and nearly choked on it "Nonsense, we don't demonize anyone, we simply recount your murders and violence in our reports. It's not my fault your people prefer destruction rather than infrastructure."

"Pssh my people? You can't be too judgmental kitten! Akatsuki thought you died until Deidara found you rotting in a ROOT base underneath the foundations of Konoha." the less friendly smirk on his face made Sakura tense, but the words he spoke rang true.

Wait, Deidara found her? The question poured into her mouth, but she was unsure which to ask first without getting shot down.

"I thought the Akatsuki found me at the imperial palace," Her brow raised slightly while sharp green emeralds glared at the new information.

Kisame seemed unbothered "Yep, found ya down there screaming your pretty little head off at good ole Ibiki and his crew." It was in this moment that Sakura realized just how out of her league she was. These men, this group, had infiltrated the most secretive organization in the world and successfully spied on her. How many times had they seen her broken? _Had_ they seen or did they only hear?

"You're bluffing, you just want me to get thrown off. You couldn't possibly-"

"And what if we had a man on the inside?" _'what if you had a rat in Konoha this entire time?'_ Sakura stared down at her nearly empty cup and watch the few leafs swirl in the liquid. His steady breathing was either well practiced or he was telling the truth. Did Konoha have a double agent? Would this be a benefit against Danzo?

"I want to know who." Sakura gained enough courage to face him again. It was rare for an opponent to outwit Sakura and throw her off as Kisame had, but then again, she highly doubted that Akatsuki let morons join. He was intelligent, dangerously so. A feat you wouldn't think about in a blood thirsty swordsman, which made him an even deadlier opponent.

"You'll figure it out kitten, I've heard you're a smart little cookie, " His voice sounded older, wiser than normal. He finished his tea and poured another cup, silently offering to fill Sakura's again "but we ain't your enemies right now." With hesitant hands she softly slid the cup across the dark wood table and he filled the old porcelain with the welcoming liquid "Leader-sama has given us very strict rules to not harm you and, despite what you may think, we are not a lawless organization of ruffians."

His joking banter came back slightly with his last sentence, but everything she had seen in the bingo books clashed with what she was experiencing now. Kisame was a member of the seven swordsmen of mist, a feared criminal known for his bloodlust, "the tailless demon", and yet here he sat, in a navy-blue sleep yukata, sipping team and calming speaking with Sakura as if they had known each other for decades.

"You are too kind for this Kisame-san, yet I know you are not with Akatsuki by mistake." Sakura held the tea close, allowing the steam to warm her cold nose "I am surrounded by my enemies, I am weak in a place where I cannot afford to be. I will die here, it's just a matter of when they get tired of playing with me."

Kisame leaned back and crossed his arms, apparently settling in for the conversation "The enemy of thy enemy is my friend, neh? What if poor old Kisame-kun has been itching to get rid of Danzo for his past crimes? Or perhaps Deidara has a feud to settle with ROOT? You must remember to look underneath the underneath."

Sakura felt a jolt run through her spine at the familiar words, ones she had never thought she would hear again. "My old sensei used to say that, is this a common phrase for your generation?" Sakura tried to play it off, but something about it sent alarm bells in her head; why would a mist ninja know a silly saying from a delusional old(ish) man from Konoha?

Kisame grinned and poured that last of the tea into her cup "nah, not that I know of. Kinda a weird saying if you ask me, but I suppose it makes sense for ninjas to obey that kind of saying." He tossed back the rest of his now luke warm tea and walked to the sink where he rinsed it out "Don't let the words of an old swordsmen get stuck in your head, I learned them a long time ago from Itachi-san."

Sakura gently shut the door and stood facing it for a moment, not entirely sure who she was climbing back in bed with. Itachi entered ANBU at 11 and was 27 now, Kakashi entered ANBU at 13 and was 32 now. There is a five-year age difference between them, so did they serve together? Were they on the same team?

Sakura glanced over her shoulder at the dark form hidden under the covers in the bed, his breathing was even and slow, but she knew better than to assume he was fully asleep. With a small yawn Sakura tip toed over to the bed, lightly flaring her chakra to hopefully avoid startling the Uchiha as she got closer. Careful hands pulled her throw blanket on top of her body as she scooted to the farthest edge of the bed possible, determined to not touch the man beside her.

What else did Itachi Uchiha have hidden?

"-ura."

"hmmmmurrrggg uh." Sakura groaned with a sleepy tug on the blanket being removed from her body. Apparently, another saying Itachi was fond of was 'the early bird catches the worm.'

"Sakura-san, you have slept past breakfast and you are in dire need of protein in order to keep up with the demands of muscle production." Itachi reasoned as he attempted to pull the blanket again. Could he rip it off her in an instant, thus ending this childish game of tug -o-war? Of course. However, past experiences with ill tempered kunoichi's have made him cautious when waking them.

"Kisame-kun kept me up, just a few more minutes I swear."

The pulling stopped and Sakura briefly thought she won the battle. She tucked the blanket under her elbow and turned in the opposite direction of the pulling, a blanket stealing tactic she had learned due to sleepovers with Ino and the notorious bed hogs of team 7.

Just as she began to doze off again, she felt the blanket rip away and his presence sit on the bed next to her hip, waking her up immediately. The look in his eyes glowed red, but it seemed to be more than just the sharingan he had activated that made Itachi look more angry than usual.

"Kun? And might I ask what you were doing with Kisame-san last night?"

Was that….Jealousy?

"Tea. We had tea."

Apparently, he was unsatisfied with the answer, a dark eyebrow rose fractionally on his forehead. "I have brought you meals and you have not attached '-kun' to my name."

It was too early for this man's mind games and tricks Sakura decided and she rolled out of the bed on the opposite side, pink hair in a disarray and dark cloud hovering over her head as she walked to the bathroom and slammed it shut. Men sucked, she decided as she went about her normal routine.

Perhaps 10 minutes later a damp pinkette peaked her head out of the bathroom to glance around the pristine bedroom that appeared vacated and safe. As she combed her hair, Sakura noticed a black outfit on the bed, much too petite and feminine for the brooding, cranky butt Uchiha to wear. Sakura unfolded it and counted a neatly contained package within the confines of the charcoal long sleeved training top. She opened the parcel and blushed, praying to kami that who ever chose her clothes never saw her again.

 _"Feel free to stop by any time"_ the note on top of the lingerie said. Inside her box of nightmares was the finest under garments Sakura had ever seen. Bikini briefs, thongs, laser cut athletic undies, bras, sports bras, and wrappings made of the finest silk were all lined up and waiting. She snagged a black thong to pair with her training tights and hastily put them on, afraid what Itachi would do if he saw her naked or the new clothing.

Scruffing her hair one last time, Sakura ran to the kitchen to try and grab breakfast before her training with Itachi began.

Her first few training sessions were pure stamina and strength building. It was back to the basics since she had practically wasted away into a stick while in the tender care of Danzo. For weeks she would run in a large open training ground that resembled something of a field. Lush grass peppered with odd white flowers grew in the inside training ground, while a false light nearly 50 feet up provided a sense of being in the outside world. These training grounds were utilized by members not on missions and were very popular when trying to relax without leaving the base, but for now it became Sakura's personal hell as the ever strict sharingan user pushed her to her breaking point each day.

After a month of training he deemed her fit enough to fight and attacked without warning, resulting in Sakura setting more broken bones than she wanted to that day. If she used too much defensive tactics, Itachi would be sure to break something more painful; his favorite seemed to be her left femur. It was only about three days of sparring until Sakura finally snapped at him.

"If you break my nose on purpose one more time, I will fucking lose it Uchiha-san." A punch with slightly more chakra than necessary brushed past his ear and it stung as the raw chakra flew past the tender skin.

"Drop the suffix," He threw a roundhouse kick toward her ribs which she successfully blocked. "If you would put your hands up properly, then I wouldn't be forced to hit you in the face. This is a mistake an academy child could fix."

Sakura flew into a blind rage, angered by his condescending tone, angered by the events of her life, and angered by the village they had left. It was only a matter of time before he tired of her sloppy tactics as she wore herself out. Itachi barely broke a sweat as he blocked the poorly timed upper cut to his jaw and with a simple grab, he swung the kunoichi over his head and slammed her into the ground below.

Sakura struggled to draw breath into her lungs and the ragged gasps that shook her torso brought her to shame. He had defeated her so easily, each movement reminded her of a cat playing with a mouse before they killed it.

His shadow fell over her as he stood watching. Sakura Haruno was lacking confidence, prowess, and overall combat talent. How she made it to her age without these skills and lived was a shock even to Itachi, but even Deidara was hopeless when he first arrived.

"You lack skill." Itachi bent down and attempted to pick the worn kunoichi up, only to have his calloused hands slapped away. She continued to cough and bring in deep breaths as she rolled over onto her hands and knees away from him.

 _'I am ANBU, I lack no such thing.'_ Sakura bitterly thought as she stood and regained her balance. Grateful for the distance between them Sakura stood and walked toward the door she knew would lead to the kitchen and hopefully Kisame. She toyed with the idea of going back to her room, but the last thing she wanted to do was to cross paths with Itachi. _'Guess I'll find a couch to sleep on tonight.'_

She didn't look back as she trudged along the hallway lightly holding her aching ribs. Her chakra had been depleted to a dangerously low level in order to keep up with Itachi and even then it wasn't enough for him. _'I'm a fine shinobi, fuck him and the high horse he rode in on. Some of us don't get to rely on our clan kekkai genkai to save our asses at the end of the day. Stupid little prick-'_

The steaming pinkette had finally caught her breath and with it returned her anger towards to Akatsuki. She briskly entered the kitchen and made a beeline for Kisame's pantry space, the man had the best snacks and sake and was kinder when sharing than the other Akatsuki. Sakura snagged the cool ceramic bottle and the left over dango that she knew her shark friend would miss later on, but she was too heated to care at the moment. Sakura turned to leave the pantry, only to come face to chest with her second least favorite person at the moment.

"Hey honey, wanna make me some dinner, hm?" Deidara smirked as he blocked the exit out of the tiny pantry space. His cloak was missing, leaving him in a cutoff shirt with a tempting view of his abs. Sakura struggled, but kept her glare on his face. She knew his type, his plans. He was just another man out to find a lay. She had done well avoiding him these past few weeks, but it seems her time running was up and today was possibly the worse day for him to play with her.

"Leave, I am not in the mood to play your stupid games Deidara-san." Sakura stood her ground, but felt the unconscious shift of her right foot as it readied to fight.

Deidara scoffed "You stealing now? And what's with the '-san', aren't we friends?" He raised an arm and leaned on the wall to his left, seemingly more than comfortable blocking her in.

Sakura was done and even though she didn't have enough chakra to deal damage, she had more than enough to put a child in his place. She huffed and pushed past the annoying blonde, holding her breath as she realized just how warm, hot, and _rock hard_ he was. Now was not the time to get infatuated with the enemy.

Deidara allowed her escape but chuckled at her stiff movements around him. Was she really that innocent still? He turned to follow her as she made her way to the counter to sit and enjoy her snack while she planned out how to avoid the prison she shared with Itachi.

The blonde wandered towards her in lazy strides, his blonde hair was out of the usual pony and draped dramatically over his shoulders. "What's the matter with you? Was Itachi too _rough_ today, hm?" The way he said it implied less than pure thoughts and made Sakura bristle even more.

"What's it to you." She attempted to pour herself a cup of sake, but a rough hand enclosed around her wrist and nearly yanked her off the counter she was perched on. The playboy looks and childish antics made it easy for Sakura to forget just how dangerous this man was. They were chest to chest with his other arm slamming down on the counter to her right. Though Deidara appeared only curious, she could see the hellish rage behind his blue eyes.

"Don't go ignoring me now pinkie, I just asked a simple question. It would be rude to not answer, hm." He squeezed her wrist tighter, releasing a few pops from Sakura's delicate wrist. "Besides I would have thought-"

Sakura was rather done being man handled for the day and smashed the sake bottle into the side of his head, stunning the rock nin and giving her the exit opportunity she needed. Long pink hair bolted toward the opening of hallway, only to have herself yanked back by the end of her ponytail.

Without giving him a chance to explain himself Sakura flipped backwards, pulling Deidara forward and herself down on top of his spine. He was quick, and she was tired, but the fight had not left her. As they wrestled Sakura kicked him in the diaphragm and made a mad dash to use the chair as her next weapon. She tossed that at him, and it shattered over his head with a crack. The mad bomber was thankfully without his clay bag, but snagged a chair leg and wielded it as a sword as he lunged at her throat, hell fire raging in his eyes.

"Was there a scuffle?"

Both ninja jumped away from the other and regarded the mist nin with caution. He seemed shocked at the wreck in the kitchen; ceramic was shattered everywhere, wooden splinters graced a majority of the floor, and there was a faint smell of alcohol that he guessed was soaked into Deidara's now tangled hair.

"She's a fuckin nut case-"

" _You_ attacked me!" Sakura shrieked "I did nothing to instigate this!"

"Well you shouldn't look so good to eat, maybe then people would leave you alone-"

" _Enough_." Kisame boomed and the room fell silent "Kitten, come here. Deidara, hide this mess before Kakuzu-san takes his anger out on you again."

Sakura sulked toward the swordsman without removing her eyes from Deidara's. She might look like an easy target to bully, but perhaps now he would think twice. She winced when Kisame casually placed his hand on her back and pushed her in the opposite direction of her room, was he not taking her to her prison cell?

"How is it I always have to separate you two? Honestly your generation has the worse anger management problems." Kisame huffed in annoyance, but not necessarily disappointment and she was thankful.

"Can you hit him with your sword?" Sakura muttered as she massaged her wrist. The ugly bruises were already forming, but until she regained her chakra from earlier she would just have to let it heal naturally.

Kisame laughed one of his good-natured laughs "I believe the technical term for that is stab kitten!" They took another turn and faced the familiar wooden door that led to the private onsen. "Go on, I'll wait out here this time. Konan is requesting a private meeting with you in an hour."

* * *

Y'ALL! THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS AH! Seriously I had no idea anyone would read my work this late in the Naruto fandom! I apologize for the fight scenes and lack of enthusiasm in this chapter, it was one of those chapters you gotta write in order to move on to the real show, so I'm sorry! School starts up on Tuesday so if the updates are slow I'm sorry! I want to make this story reach on a more emotional and deeper level than it is and I'm struggling!


	10. Chapter 10

Sakura breezed through the large wooden archway with a faux confidence even she did not know she possessed. Bothering Itachi to allow her to meet with the leader of the Akatsuki was a waste of time, or so she thought. Even if it was not the true leader she was meeting with in the unknown library then it was his second in command. No one knew anything about the mysterious "Konan", heck ANBU didn't even have a name or file on her. How this woman managed to stay a secret for so long in the ninja world was a surprise to Sakura, but it would be foolish to assume she was harmless; no one in Akatsuki was harmless.

A rare warm draft welcomed Sakura's delicate skin as she entered the scarcely lit room. A fireplace blazed along the far wall casting shadows around the vast bookshelves lining each wall. Scrolls and large books decorated each shelf in an organized fashion, reminding Sakura of Itachi's own collection in his suite. Two lush fabric couches sat close to the fireplace with a perfectly poised figure gracefully standing to welcome Sakura into the room. The bulky Akatsuki, cloak a sign of her status, no longer brought shock to Sakura.

"Sakura-san, I do hope you found the library with ease. Sometimes the layout of this base can be confusing to newcomers." Konan welcomed with a light bow of her head. She seemed older, much wiser than Sakura, but hardened by something. Sakura supposed living with the men of Akatsuki could do that to a woman. She was stunned by the azul hair beauty before her, was it a law that all dangerous shinobi had to be gorgeous? Sakura stepped closer with confident strides, more at ease knowing she was with a fellow kunoichi.

"I was led by Kisame-kun, he was most helpful in finding this. I had no idea the base had such a vast collection of reading material," Sakura smiled as she looked around "May I utilize this room in the future? I grow weary of the testosterone sometimes."

Konan sat back down with a soft smile, her hand waving Sakura towards the other couch in a gentle manner "Of course, I'm surprised you have not come here yet. Kisame-san told me Itachi liked to keep you under observation, but seeing as you've been here for a month, I doubt that will be required further. I shall make a request that he allows you more freedoms, I know exactly how you feel unfortunately. Our men can be…. Suffocating at times, their egos tend to explode before rational thoughts can come to them."

Sakura sat down and perfected her posture, smiling just a tad at Konan's description of the Akatsuki. She made them sound like academy children. "Sakura-san, we must discuss a few things of high importance. I am here on behalf of Pein and he thought it might be best for us to talk without the invasion of privacy that the others tend to bring." Sakura blushed lightly, hoping she was wrong in where this conversation was heading "Itachi-san has been in communication with us and he says you're improving in strides with your training, except in the area of seduction. Might I inquire as to why?"

Sakura made a pitiful gulp and glanced down at her feet, how old was the woman before her? Mid to late twenties perhaps? Surely she could understand as a woman why Sakura was so….apprehensive about her training.

"I apologize for the inconvenience Konan-sama. I am sure Itachi-san's report has included much of my background and details and I find myself…. intimidated with the men here."

Konan regarded her with a soft gaze, her golden eyes seemingly connecting with Sakura's soul. "It is a true burden to be a kunoichi, I understand your situation perfectly Sakura -san. Pein can be rather insistent on things being done a certain way, but he was never a woman and cannot comprehend this moment and how it affects you. I apologize for his insensitivities."

"Do I… need to complete the training?" Sakura nearly whispered, afraid if she spoke too loudly that Pein would burst into the room and destroy her hopes.

"The reason it's taken so long for us to meet is because we've been doing a little digging to further analyze your abilities without pushing you too far into unfamiliar territory," Konan reached within her cloak and drew out a thin manila folder "Your ANBU records and missions are rather hard to come by, I dare say you've done more than this?" She smiled, pleased that Sakura was a talented kunoichi who could hide most traces of her existence when she wanted to.

"Yes, the mission count is within the 40's." Sakura reported, no longer being so secretive about what she did in the past. She had come to terms that the Konoha she loved was no longer there, in its place was a country designed as a prison. Her mission now was to find her few remaining loved ones, not save the country from Danzo.

"Ah, a shame. That's much more than our initial estimate, but I have a half dozen cases here that tell me you are more than capable of operating in risky environments, so to say." She laid the folder on the coffee table between them and Sakura stared wide eyed at the vast information about herself. Pictures of her dancing in the background of strip clubs and dance floors came into focus. Tiny outfits barely concealing anything lay plastered to her skin as she twirled around a pole in one photo, her intense gaze trained on the burly man before her stage. She scoffed as she remembered the mission; he was a pimp who prided himself on human trafficking of minors. His life had ended that night in a haste, something Sakura darkly wishes she could have dragged on.

"You are clever in your actions, I must applaud you on that. I will tell Pein that you are more than ready for your mission, but it is fast approaching. The plans are still being fine-tuned, however, Hidan is a key item in the success." Konan's voice took on an edge of sympathy. Apparently the immortal was renowned for being a prick even with Akatsuki members.

Sakura couldn't believe her luck. She groaned inwardly, but the displeasure must have been on her face. Konan chuckled and closed the folder "Yes, he is obnoxious, but he is a good actor for these missions. Before I release you is there anything else you wish to discuss?"

The pinkette had not been ready for such a question and nearly forgot why she was so excited to see Konan in the first place "Yes, I believe I can save a jinchuriki's life during the removal if allowed research and time for studying your extraction process. Is there any way you could grant me this request? I would be a fool to tell you to stop going after Naruto, but he is my best friend and I know I can save him if given a little time to learn. I'm… I am begging you Konan-sama. I will be your perfect solider if you allow me to save his life. I will never attempt to betray the Akatsuki should you allow me this one favor." Sakura felt the tears well behind her eyes, but she forced them to stay in their place. Konan seemed frozen in her seat, her gaze calculating and cold. Had Sakura just blown her chances? Had she insulted her hospitality? Konan stood abrupted and Sakura jumped, but remained seated.

Konan removed her bulky cloak to reveal a navy-blue high neck, sleeveless blouse and black leggings. She walked away from the couches to a small counter and produced a tea kettle and cups. It seemed this meeting was not quite over just yet.

"Tell me what you know of the process thus far." Konan grinned slightly as she glided back over to where they sat.

Itachi returned to his room to discover the kunoichi was not there and stared puzzled at the small table by the book case. She had not turned the page since she put the book down yesterday, an offsetting observation considering the woman always had her nose in one of the many books here. Glancing around he noticed her training wraps were hanging out of one of the drawers as well, indicating she was not practicing her tai-jutsu as he had instructed the day before.

Just where was that trouble maker?

Itachi frowned somewhat as he wandered out of his room and set his course for the kitchen, one of her favorite spots. He had found her here more times than not, often stealing from his food sources in the pantry. He would not mind so much, but her unfortunate like of sweets was diminishing his dango surplus at an alarming rate. It was a trivial thing to be upset about, but she should be concentrating her daily calories in proteins, not wasted carbs.

Just as Itachi rounded the archway he sensed her light chakra far off in a corner of the base she had not been grated access to. But she was not alone.

The denser chakra with her could be none other than Konan, what would she want with the kunoichi? With long strides Itachi reached the large wooden doors and knocked lightly, knowing better than to intrude on his superior's meeting. Even if the woman did not look like much, her power and chakra control rivaled his own. She had earned her position within the Akatsuki and killed members who disrespected her on more than one occasion, and he did not feel like trifling with the "Angel of Amegakure".

The airy chuckles from the room ceased, "Enter." Konan sounded, her abrupt return to a commanding tone _almost_ made Itachi hesitate in his intrusion.

"Forgive me Konan-sama," Itachi bowed deep, a shock to Sakura "Haruno-san and I usually attend an evening training session around this hour, and I grew worried about her attendance."

Why was Konan not wearing her cloak? She never walked around this casually in the base. Itachi couldn't remember a time when he saw her like this, but she looked unbothered. In fact, she looked more carefree and happy instead of a fearless leader.

"I'm sorry to have kept Sakura from you Itachi-san, we were discussing plans to increase her usefulness to Akatsuki and I suppose time slipped past us. Do forgive me." Itachi mentally raised an eyebrow at the lack of honorifics for Sakura's name. Have the kunoichis met before? Surely Sakura couldn't charm her way into Konan's heart, he hardly thought she even had one at this point.

Konan stood with the tea set and a few papers fluttered around her mopping up unseen spills on the coffee table "I've decided she will require a lab space, her own room for proper storage and privacy, as well as complete access to the library. Would you help me put together the arrangements? I would be most thankful Itachi-san. She should have her chakra within our database now for access to the research facility."

Itachi was stunned but maintained a cool demeanor. "Sasori will not be thrilled with a lab partner, are there precautions we should take to ensure a peaceful transition with these new-found freedoms for Haruno-san?"

Sakura's eyes glared at his red orbs, not fearing his genjutsu with Konan in the room. Itachi glanced back, a challenge in his eyes. Konan returned to the couch and gently waved her hand, the motion sent the make shift paper towels to the waste bin "Hai, please stay out of her way and tell Sasori she is to not be messed with. Her medical knowledge will prove most helpful in our conquest. We hope to have health records and updated medical concerns on all of our members within the next few months." Konan gathered her cloak and began walking to the door, apparently done with the meeting "I regret that I cannot stay longer Sakura, perhaps we shall have tea again later this week? The feminine company is such a lovely change from the usual atmosphere."

Sakura smiled back warmly and stood to leave as well "Yes Konan-sama I look forward to another tea time with you."

The blue haired kunoichi looked back and smiled, a rare occurrence for the Angel. "Arigato, Sakura." And with that she left, assumedly to return to Pein in Amegakure.

The walk back to their room was nothing short of tense for Sakura. She could feel Itachi's eyes on her back, waiting for Sakura to spill the secrets about her meeting with Konan, but the young woman would not cave to his bullying tactics. "Itachi-san, I need to stop by the lab and take a brief inventory. This should take no longer than an hour and then we can begin our training."

She shouldn't have been surprised when her back was roughly pushed against the wall of the corridor. Sakura willingly met his unamused gaze with a new-found confidence. The elder Uchiha gave nothing away, but within those scarlet eyes was slight disbelief and maybe even a hint of anger. "I am your superior, I will tell you when we are training." He leaned forward ever so slightly and that was all it took for the confidence to be sapped out of Sakura. His lean frame exuded power. A hand slowly made its way for her face and Sakura knew better than to deflect his movements. Slender fingers roughly grasped her chin and jaw, but never once did she break eye contact with the raven-haired demon before her. "You have yet to complete all of your _training_ and it would be most beneficial for you to cooperate with me until you are done."

His threat did not go unnoticed and Sakura bristled at his implications. "Threats won't work against me, Uchiha-san. You best speak to your _superiors_ , it seems my past missions are more than enough proof that I can handle myself without your torture. Now back off, we have work to do and I have research to conduct."

Time stood still. Sakura was unsure how many people dared talk back to the legend before her, but she did not feel like taking abuse any longer. He loosened his hold and took a step back after a moment, anger still within those silent eyes of his. "Come, we must talk to Sasori-san and I have a feeling you will need to reserve your energy for that discussion." Itachi tore away from his spot and walked briskly down the hall as Sakura chased after him only a few paces behind his ever-present shadow. After a few tense moments they arrived at a metal door that Itachi gently opened for them. Despite his attitude it seemed the Uchiha was still a gentleman in his dark, twisted soul.

Sasori, looked unaware of the intruders and worked away on rather lively looking puppet in front of him. The bright white tiled room reminded her more of a morgue or butcher shop than a sterile setting for operations and procedures. Empty puppet shells hung in a dark closet near Sasori. Fresh blood pooled on the floor in seemingly random places until Sakura realized that it was actually a trail from a closed door to the workbench the puppet master sat hunched at.

Then she remembered his 100-puppet army she decimated.

"What is it Itachi-san," The red head grunted, his attention still focused on the new puppet before him.

"Konan-sama has unfortunately granted Sakura the privilege to share your work space. She needs to take 'inventory' apparently." The way Itachi said everything sounded as if he did not believe it himself and Sakura glared at him from her position at his side.

Sasori paused in his work and turned around to face Sakura, but her eyes were not focused on him, rather the puppet on the table; Its haunting eyes looked over the side and right at her. She remembers that terrible battle all too well, each puppet that was destroyed by her fists another ten seemed to spring to life and attempt to dismember her.

The men had been talking for a while as Sakura blanked out, but she didn't care. She spent years trying to forget those evil things and now to work in the same lab as them? The light shake in her breathing and the clamminess to her skin told her she was not yet over the trauma from that fight all these years later.

"-don't mess up my organization."

Sakura jumped slightly, realizing that Sasori had just granted her permission to continue her inventory. "Arigato." She begrudgingly replied and set off to get an idea of what she would need to ensure Naruto's life on this earth.

Everything was state of the art, it seemed Sasori either spent his paychecks on this lab or the Akatsuki had a taste for the finer things in terms of scientific equipment. There was a concerning lack of actual medical equipment, but it wouldn't surprise Sakura if these men never injured themselves.

She stood by an odd cabinet and marked down some of the last bottles of medicine in store. It seemed she would need to put in a request for even the simple things such as penicillin and morphine, but the way Konan spoke earlier it seemed Sakura would want for nothing in her medical bay. She skipped over the large glass jars of familiar purple liquid, not wanting to spare too much thought about the memories she had of it. "Sasori-san, I'm sorry to bother you, but I would like to move the poisons to another cabinet-"

"You were to take stock of the lab, not reorganize it."

Sakura huffed and moved a stray hair out of her face "I'd rather not store skin melting, nerve damaging compounds in the same locations as the bandages and medicine."

Sasori paused in his work and turned toward her. His chocolate eyes looked bored, but Sakura knew better than to believe that.

"Very well," and with a twitch of his fingers he maneuvered the puppet he was working on towards her. Its dead eyes looked into hers as it approached her stunned form. The matted blonde hair and blue eyes threw Sakura in a flashback of her most recent nightmare of Naruto. Its creaking joints walked faster than she was prepared for and her heart beat uncontrollably from her chest. Hyperventilation began to set in, and in a moments haste Sakura bolted from the room, not caring if she had just made a fool of herself.

"Very subtle, Sasori-san." Itachi dead panned as he stood from his chair to chase the startled kunoichi. The redhead smirked as the puppet returned with his jar.

"You wished to know her mental state, did you not?" Sasori unlidded the jar and measured out an appropriate amount of the vile liquid "I believe she has a fear of the puppets, you're welcome."

Itachi left without responding. The puppet master was not one to take other's feelings into consideration, much like the rest of Akatsuki. Itachi was still a Konoha ninja at heart and he knew the powerful darkness that PTSD could bring upon a shinobi. His mission was to train the fragile kunoichi and make her a weapon for Akatsuki, as well as a tool to perfect the sharingan. Sasori's careless display of power might just have broken any trust she had for them and this did not suit well for Itachi's plans with her.

A door shut and Itachi headed towards his bedroom. The suit lacked a specific pink haired kunoichi, but the bathroom door was suspiciously shut and locked. Calmly, Itachi walked towards the door and placed his hand on it with a soft knock. "Sakura-san," he said lightly "Come, we have training to do in the garden. You need more practice developing your genjutsu." If she heard him, he did not know. There was no rustle nor noise from behind the shut door she had retreated behind. "Unlock the door now or there will be consequences." Itachi said in a slightly more commanding voice, its deep echo surely got the point across that he was not toying with her.

Just as the raven-haired man was about to forcibly enter, he heard a small, shakey breath. A light click signaled the door was unlocked and Sakura opened it to step out. She kept her eyes downcast and tried to maneuver around Itachi, but he was having none of it. His arm shot out to block her escape from the bathroom and she jumped, started by his movement.

"You are not well-"

"I'm fine," Sakura growled, choosing to pick at a scrape on her skin rather than look at the man before her "I just was startled-"

"Startled people don't sprint from rooms like that. You are troubled by his puppets." Gaze unmoving, Itachi slowly removed his hand from the doorframe "Are you scared?"

"No. I have this terrified look on my face 'cause I'm having so. Much. Fun." She grit out between clenched teeth. She made a move to walk around him but his hand moved to grab hold on her shoulder and keep her in the bathroom. Sakura's flight or fight reaction was obviously not yet over and he'd rather not have to chase her down again.

Mental health discussions with the enemy were definitely not on her list of things to do. She could handle this, she's always handled it just fine without any help. No one knew about the nightmares, nor her fears and she wanted to keep it that way. She was a doctor and could handle this professionally behind closed doors, but Itachi witnessing her 'moment' was certainly a problem.

She braved a glance up at him, emerald eyes steeled. "I am perfectly healthy Itachi-san and I appreciate your concern, however, I assure you I've gotten over Sasori and I's fight long ago; I won, he lost, he's dea-" Sakura stopped herself before she could finish her normal post panic attack routine. It was no longer true, Sasori was no longer dead. She could no longer tell herself this in hopes of stopping her anxieties.

His warm hand moved from the wall and lightly grasped her as she frantically picked at the now bleeding scrape on the back side of her hand. She was embarrassed and he knew it, yet did not gloat over her weakness as she expected he would. "I will request your lab to be moved-"

"No." Sakura would not cower and hide from her nightmares "I have to get over this and I'd rather do it now."

"Very well, however, tonight is not the time. We will postpone training until tomorrow, for now I suggest you meditate." And with that Itachi left the room, leaving Sakura to ponder what just happened.

Did Itachi Uchiha seriously just comfort her?

 ** _"He has large, warm hands ya know."_** Inner mischievously chuckled in the back of her mind **_"I certainly know of more ways he could comfort us."_** And with that Sakura threw herself on the bed and groaned as Inner played out her terrible day dreams for Sakura to witness.

The same red sky haunted the landscape Sakura was slowly becoming accustomed to. When was the last time she had a normal dream? Perhaps prior to Itachi's sharingan, but even then, Sakura was unable to remember a peaceful night without blood red skies and snow. The soft crunch under her bare feet was interesting, but at least she didn't feel the cold. Each step brought her more anxiety, yet she had no idea where she was going. She reached a river and stood in front of a massive torii gate leading to seemingly nowhere but the rock cliff behind it.

 _"I know this place though…"_ Sakura thought out loud, hoping Inner would voice a helpful comment or two as to why she was here. She broke the rock and walked into the cavern beyond it; this was the sealing ground the Akatsuki used when the removed Garra's Shukaku. Cautiously she stepped deeper into the cavern and looked around. Puppets littered every inch of ground; whole formations of rock were missing and the red sky was above her where the ceiling was missing from a previous attack on it.

 _"All these puppets….."_ Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck stood and a chill ran through the air. Sakura spun around just in time to deflect an attack with a poison blade dripping a treacherous purple goo she was all too familiar with. When she glared at her attacker the kunoichi nearly dropped her weapon.

Attached to the glowing blue chakra strings was Inner, her mouth permanently opened in a sinister smile that leaked the violet poison. Behind her Sakura could see that chocolate eyes from her every nightmare.

 _"I'm not dead, dear blossom. But they are."_ And with that Sasori attacked her with the puppets laying on the ground. No matter how many she fought off, more kept arriving, until a familiar flash of white caught her attention and she looked into the face of her puppet attacker.

Kakashi flew at her with astonishing speed, using every jutsu in the book that could rip her apart. She created an earth wall to block a water dragon attack only to come face to face with Hinata's dead gaze as her puppet form began striking her chakra points. " _You killed Konoha ans walked into a lion's den. You'll be **mine** once they bore of you."_

 _"I have to escape, I have to wake up!"_ Sakura frantically thought as she tried to render herself conscious. A blow to the spine threw Sakura across the battle grounds and soft steps reached her defeated body. It was deadly silent as the nightmare Sasori softly brushed the dirt and hair from her eyes. His touch was as soft as a lover's, yet his intentions were much more sinister than anything Sakura ever experienced.

 _"Not yet my dear doll, fight the poison just a little longer. I want you to see my greatest masterpiece, look."_

A new set of hands grabbed Sakura's face and turned her to face them. Sakura screamed at the dead, rotting Naruto puppet before her. His mouth opened and poison poured out as it dripped over her prone body while Sasori laughed somewhere in the darkness that consumed her vision.

Sakura awoke with a scream and immediately regretted it. The warm pile beside her jumped, tanto blade ready while Sakura frantically tried to make her way to the door leading to the hallway.

"Gomen-gomen, Itachi-san, gomen." She hastily drew in a breath and tried to escape the room before Itachi could realize what happened "It was just a bad dream, I-I'm going to get tea."

"No, you are not."

Sakura had half the idea to run in her head, but Itachi was faster and made it to the door before she could even turn the handle "Itachi _please,"_ She stubbornly faced the door refusing to meet his glowing gaze "Just this once don't ask any prying questions. I can handle this."

"Obviously not. You whimper constantly in your sleep, now tell me why."

"I need to go get tea-"

" _No,_ you're off to find Kisame. I am your training partner and you will tell me what haunts you at night."

Unfortunately, it seemed Itachi was never wrong and his observations threw Sakura off. "I can't! I can't do that!" Sakura harshly whispered as she attempted to bury her head into both her hands and hide from him. "I had it under control and then this nonsense happens!"

Strong hands gently gripped her wrists and pulled them away from her face, but Sakura twisted her head away. One hand took both of hers while the other lightly guided her chin to face him in a confrontation Sakura desperately did not want. "You can not hide your tears from these eyes, Sakura." She wanted to gasp at the non-glowing charcoal eyes that starred into hers but refrained from doing so by biting her lip. Itachi misread this as a way to prevent her tears from flowing and gently pulled her to the bed in a slow manner. He sat down as Sakura stood shaking from the dream. "Tonight, I am not Akatsuki. Let me help."

And with that Sakura collapsed onto the bed in a tearful fit of a mess, uncaring that her long sleeping shirt had probably risen above an appropriate length. Rivers streamed down her cheeks as she curled into a ball that Itachi maneuvered onto his lap, stroking the tangled heap of pink hair that shook on him. Far away was the Sakura Haruno from the Three-Day War. Tonight, she was a broken shinobi, just like the thousands before her. She mumbled incoherent things that Itachi simply hummed in agreeance to. Minutes rolled by and her panicked cries died off into teary eyed hiccups.

"Don't-please don't tell anyone." Sakura mumbling as she buried her forehead into his shoulder, hoping she never had to look at him ever again. This was her worst nightmare and worst panic attack. She couldn't believe THE Itachi Uchiha got a front row seat to it.

"If Sasori-san causes you this much distress you can not work in that lab. I hardly think that will be beneficial to your health-"

"I'll be fine-"

"Are you always this difficult." It came out more as a statement than a question, one Itachi meant to lighten the mood, but it seemed to draw a darker cloud over Sakura's head.

"I thought I could hold it together, I'm sorry. I know ANBU doesn't cry, I know shinobi don't panic. I- gomen." Her forehead pushed into his shoulder slightly more and he felt new tears on his shirtless chest.

Itachi used one arm to hold her to his torso and twisted around so to lay them down on the pillows. "You are safe here Sakura, I will make sure of that." And with that final thought he gently lifted Sakura's gaze to his own spinning red orbs and lulled her into a dreamless sleep. Almost instantly her breathing evened and the terrified kunoichi melted into the curls of his body around her. Lazily Itachi smiled as he twirled one of the wild strands of pink hair across his bed.

It was mildly inconvenient of Sasori to intrude on his plans, but this couldn't have worked out better. It seems Sakura responds positively to comfort and kindness, even from an enemy. She showed her true self when that pesky mask of hers broke; the apologizes for not behaving as a proper shinobi, the pleading, the drop of his honorific.

Yes, all was going according to plan. It might not have been the original route, but Itachi Uchiha always got what he wanted, and he was well on his way to having this pink haired kunoichi wrapped around his finger.

Ok….am I mean? Yes, absolutely. This has been cooking in my head for over a month now and I needed to get it down on paper. I stayed up until 4am trying to writing out that last nightmare bit and Itachi "fluff"! Is Itachi good? Bad? And whats up with Sasori?! Well I'm pretty sure all the men in Akatsuki like to play mind games with people so I thought why not! Let me know what you think!


	11. Chapter 11

I have no excuses.

Also.

LOLOLOL I don't own Naruto! Havent mentioned that for a few chapters, sorry!

Itachi was not one for dreams, his mind thankfully seemed to be blank most nights as he slept. However, tonight he found himself facing what seemed to be his Mangekyō sharingan. He stared up at the blood night sky in disinterest, silently praying it was not a nightmare similar to the ones he experienced after the clan massacre. The soft crunch of snow under his feet was a new addition, as was the forest surrounding him. Ancient redwoods climbed into the red sky, their branches desperately stretching for a sunlight that would never come.

He continued walking on his aimless journey in the monochrome world until he felt an abrupt grab at his left hand. Itachi's instincts screamed at the sudden danger and he attempted to make a grab for a kunai, but an invisible force held his unoccupied hand down. Sharingan ablaze Itachi glanced at the intruder, her grip more powerful than he imagined possible.

Before him was a small girl, perhaps no older than Sasuke when the massacre occurred. Her monochrome clothing matched the environment, but the splash of cherry blossom pink in her short locks was enough to identify the child. She pulled him off the path and led him further into the dark trees, trotting through the shin deep drifts proved difficult for the child. The light from the overhead moon was disappearing at an uncomfortable rate, but no matter how hard Itachi tried to resist it seemed young Sakura overpowered him effortlessly.

They twisted around trees as she led with confidence through the labyrinth of haunting redwoods, each seemingly playing witness to the mystery that lay before him. They had reached a dark pond settled in a rare light spot where the moon shone through the trees. The glass surface held a sinister feel to it, almost as if possessed by a creature of the forest. _"What is Sakura doing here?"_ Itachi thought to himself. A tug on the arm she held brought his gaze down on the child, her petrified green eyes seemed to glow as they glanced up at him in fright.

"Where are we." He spoke softly, just as he had with his brother at her age. His voice startled her.

"A pond…." She gazed at the ground, seemingly afraid her answer was not the correct one.

His eye nearly twitched; Itachi was unamused at the lack of depth to her response. "Yes," He fought the need to grab the bridge of his nose in frustration, but impatience with this child would get him nowhere "But perhaps you could tell me a little more? Why are we here?"

She stared back at the pond and pondered his question. _"Perhaps the renowned intelligence came after Tsunade began instructing her."_ His thoughts, though rude, stirred the environment and the raven-haired shinobi brought his attention to the small ripples on the black pond's surface.

"I just do as I'm told." The child's sinister voice put Itachi on edge, the previous innocence squandered.

Nothing had changed, no wind came, and nothing had been thrown into its depths, yet the water moved in a mesmerizing fashion. Just as Itachi was about to take a step forward and scrutinize the occurrence, the small child's hand tugged him back in an aggressive manner. The strength of her fragile fingers was impossible, and it was at that moment he noticed the hand holding his was no longer so small.

He quickly turned his neck to see a much larger, manicured hand grasping his own in a vice grip. Black talons protruded from the nailbed almost as if they had been overcome with the final stages of decay. His eyes couldn't move fast enough as the figure abruptly melted into the shadows of the woods, the haunting echo of a familiar chuckle following it. He stood still, sharingan on as Itachi attempted to track the apparition's movements.

 ** _"My, my. Have you resorted to insulting children now? What would your mother say?"_** Itachi turned towards the sound and froze. Before him was Sakura, but everything about her was wrong. Bright, pale pink hair flowed much longer than normal, nearly reaching the small of her back. The bottom edges seemed to vanish in swirls of pink fog, creating an ethereal look around the midnight black skin. The state of undress was unnerving as well, the black wraps that fashioned her make shift crop top and shorts did little to preserve the modesty Sakura normally demanded. A long, sheer strip of silk cloaked her front atop the shorts and fluttered in a non-existent breeze that Itachi could not feel but sense as dark chakra swirled around the demoness before him. The power was obvious, however what caught his eye was the amount of metal wrapped around her limbs. Thick bracelets went nearly half way up its arms, ancient kanji inscribed into their black iron while a choker enveloped a seemingly delicate neck.

The creature sat perched on a rock, unbothered by the cold environment surrounding her, mischief obvious in the glowing white eyes that replaced the warm emeralds he had become familiar with. **_"Don't get caught staring."_** Tendrils of black smoke puffed her out of existence like a replacement jutsu and she appeared behind him **_"I might just get upset."_** An arm wrapped around his torso and dragged a lone talon from one pectoral muscle to the other. The burning pain from her trail caused him to grunt, a noise she seemingly approved of.

 ** _"Hmm, I love hearing that from you. Perhaps you'll give me more."_** The demonic spirit puffed out of existence again, but this time Itachi stood unable to move on his own accord. He strained his arms against what felt like chakra strings, however nothing was there when he looked down. The pond was rippling faster than before, its violent waves crashing onto the snowy shore near it.

"Who are you." Itachi said in his calm demeanor. It appeared again, swinging around a tree truck with one arm and sending a predatory glance his way.

For once, it seemed, Itachi was the prey and she the huntress.

 ** _"Oh, 'tachi,"_** a pout loomed on her full lips **_"I'm a complicated case, I fear. Think of me as precious Sakura, but if she had…well an inner demon of sorts."_** A puff and she was swinging from the tree's branch nearly 10 feet above his head **_"The name's Izanami and I'm here to make your life a living hell."_**

The red sky and all light disappeared immediately. Was this a genjutsu defense Sakura had learned? Just what was going on? Surely, she was not so foolish to resist the Akatsuki still-

A hand dragged across his shoulders, out of sight until supernatural white eyes glowed out of the corner of his eye **_"My precious Sakura, she's been through a lot. I'd rather no one else enter her mind but me."_** Taloned nails lifted his chin up **_"She controls me, but only to an extent. Let's not cross that line and you'll never have to see me again."_**

 ****Itachi took the demoness' abuse, but his slight glare never wavered. "I intend to make her immune to the sharingan. This task is impossible if I am not allowed access to her mind." She seemed to consider this momentarily, but the glowing eyes scowled into his own.

 ** _"She has no need."_** The challenge in her voice raised slightly in pitch, its unspoken warning laying thick behind her words. This entity would take shit from no mortal.

"She will have a need should she cross Sasuke in the future. He is coming for me and will take down anyone associated with me, including her." Silence hung in the air as a lazy hand twirled his low ponytail, the owner seemingly chewing over the idea of Sasuke as a threat.

 ** _"You will agree to my terms or there is no deal."_** Strong hands yanked his hair back abruptly, snapping his head up towards the sky as a soft nose came in contact with the junction of his shoulder and neck **_"One: Abuse her and you lose my tolerance. Two,"_** lush, cold lips gently trailed over his pulse and gave a light bite **_"Save Naruto, I cannot exist without the Kyubi and his death would mean the Apocalypse."_** Small hands cradled his face as he watched the radiant white eyes in front of him **_"and lastly, tell Sasori to fuck off or I'm coming for him next."_**

 ****Her eyes closed, leaving Itachi enclosed in complete darkness. Just as he began to struggle with the invisible ropes binding his body, he felt passionate lips press onto his and-

He snapped open glowing red eyes and surveyed the room in a haste, searching, almost longing, for the dark demoness. Only a mute darkness greeted him and Itachi refused to acknowledge the sudden lust in his body. A glance at the kunoichi confirmed that she was still soundly asleep and lightly snoring in her usual way, undisturbed by the events that transpired. Training would begin immediately on her resistance to the sharingan; her mission with Hidan was fast approaching and with it came the risk of Sasuke discovering his tool.

"Again."

The defeated Kunoichi laying on her back smacked the ground in frustration before tearing her exhausted body from the dusty ground. Ever since her panic attack Itachi had doubled her work load and training, preparing her for every situation imaginable. His emphasis on genjutsu was understandable, however, it shook Sakura to the core every time. She had seen her friends die at his hands in many creative ways that tested her mental stability each time. She never dared to ask what would happen should she try to escape the Akatsuki on her upcoming mission; Itachi's visual representations left little to her imagination about the consequences of escape.

Get caught within the sharingan, get yourself out, those were the rules. He had yet to try the Mangekyō and she had an uneasy feeling that perhaps this was all leading up to that.

"Hai" She pushed the hair from her face and set her stance again. Just as she began her attack Sakura's mind raced with everything that had occurred since that first night here. Her daily routine left very little room for her to mope or worry about her life. Itachi saw to it that she began training against his sharingan every morning and afternoon training session.

A near miss from the Uchiha's side kick and following right hook made Sakura drop low and slide between his legs. They were too close for any of her "allowed" sparing justsu's to be of use so a masterful switch to tai jutsu brought close enough to feel his breath on her skin, something Sakura glared at.

"Focus." He reprimanded her as she took a rough left knee to her now smashed rib. She kicked away from him to plan her attack once more. Just as Sakura pieced together enough of a plan and raced toward the dark shinobi Sakura was blind sided by a big, blue truck.

"Now kitten ya gotta watch yer ass or else the big dogs are gonna get ya!"

A disheveled mop of a kunoichi laid defeated in the trench Kisame made, her body and soul seemingly separated.

"If you kill her, she can't train for the mission and you'll be replacing her position." Itachi deadpanned, irritated at his partner's reckless demeanor. Kisame belly laughed in his echoing manner, apparently taking great joy at the idea.

"I'd sooner cut my own dick off with Samehada! 'Sides you know I got banned from the Mochi House, I highly doubt Kakuzu will ever let me wander back there on his tab."

Sakura, dizzily thought about what the men were talking about and this Mochi House, it was perhaps the first clue to her and Hidan's mission and she was to leave in less than a week. They were seriously sending her to a tea house for what? An assassination perhaps? A contract would be there to conduct business with the Akatsuki?

"-tten you're being lazy!"

And without warning the blue barbarian plucked Sakura out of her trench and onto her feet. A swift, hard patting down from his rough hands had her cleaner than before and more bruised as well. It was everything she could do to stand without shaking. She raised her head to tell him off, but was interrupted.

"You are free to do as you wish. We practice at 6am, be ready."

Sakura was out the door before he finished the sentence. After a quick, uninterrupted dinner she rushed to the laboratory to continue her studies to save the remainder of the Jinchuriki. Having to share the space with the puppet master should he need to complete work of his own was not easy. The first time seeing him after the little fiasco he caused was terrible; his smug grin never leaving his face as he tinkered away on a new poison while she mapped out various seal and studied their ancient ways. Sakura turned her lab desk to face his once he left for the evening, something he was sure he would comment about later. His presence rattled her still and she would be damned if he catch her off guard ever again.

"Again, this time without the childish eye roll."

To say Itachi Uchiha was not a morning person would be the understatement of the century. He loathed mornings, he just never showed it. The emotionally constipated ninja instead managed to take out his anger on his new pink, black, and blue toy instead. It was only an hour into their training, but her wounds had yet to heal from Kisame's bulldozer-no-jutsu and everything was stiff for the kunoichi.

"I am trying Uchiha-san, however, you repeatedly abusing me will not improve the fact that my body cannot heal in less than 24 hours without chakra use."

The round house kick to her ribs did little to improve her condition but taught her that pissing and moaning to the mighty Itachi would do little to earn his mercy.

"You have a mission and you're not nearly prepared enough for it. Your enemies will be many and hidden-"

"You keep this _shit_ up and there won't be anything left of me for a mission!" The rosette growling in fury, her patience and control quickly approaching its final moments. "Stop fucking with me, you're just a pissy, fucking-"

Sakura thought she was dreaming, but as he kicked swiped low and knocked her ankles out from under her she decided to say "fuck all" to the rules and murder Itachi.

"ARGHHH!" She yowled in rage, seeing red as she lunged for his pale neck.

They grappled on the ground with the occasional grunt breaking the silence of the training room. His favorite trick was to break her wrist in retaliation and Sakura made sure to guard her teeny limbs anxiously. "You are acting as a genin would. Cease this nonsense you're learning nothing-"

And in retaliation she bit him. A loud grunt released her from his dangerous grip. Did she seriously just bite _Itachi Uchiha?_

He inspected the wound which had not drawn blood but left him more stunned instead. Perhaps Danzo had broken her mental stability. He glared and looked up at the equally stunned kunoichi, her panting from their wrestle the only sound in the room. He had half the idea to throw her into Mangekyō for her impudence before the door swung open and a crowd strutted into the occupied training dome. The artists were seemingly in the middle of a heated argument of their usual topic of superiority and had just realized they would be sharing the room with visitors.

Sasori was the first to recover. "Itachi-san, pardon me for intruding. Shall you be long? It seems Deidara requires yet another lesson on manners." The emphasis on the blonde's name was not missed by Sasori and he stood to look back at the pinkette as she stood, watching him warily.

"Hai…" His brain pieced together a new plan entirely "Actually Sasori-san perhaps you could indulge young Sakura here if you have the time." The red head perked slightly at the proposal, oh how he itched to fight the brat again. To humiliate her as she had done to him.

"Deidara, I'm sure you understand."

The bomber scoffed in irritation at the dismissal but was secretly eager to seen this fight. Before the kunoichi had gotten lucky, now Sasori could truly wipe the floor with her. Sakura refused to look at Sasori, her attention solely on Itachi's malicious smirk. This was beyond punishment; this was torture of the highest caliber for the kunoichi. "This is needless, Itachi is more than enough for my training. You are unnecessary." Sakura addressed Sasori in a manner meant to push the idea aside, but it only seemed to further excite the puppet master.

"Reap what you sow, Sakura-san." Was all that the raven-haired man replied before walking to the edge of the room where Deidara stood, arms crossed and a malevolent grin.

Sakura's heart rate noticeably increased as the redhead made his way across the room and passed by Itachi. His inquisitive gaze set Sakura on edge, goosebumps raising along her arms as she experienced a moment of déjà vu from their first fight so long ago. "Perhaps we can reach an agreement," his lazy drawl would have sounded sexy to anyone else, but her anxiety only peaked further.

"No puppets." Was all she could manage. She didn't care if she sounded like a coward (and based on the laughter from Deidara she definitely did). Sasori nodded seriously "No biting, that is, unless I ask you." Sakura blushed beet red in anger and embarrassment, how did this bastard even see that?!

They sized each other briefly, the other silently wondering how they grew in strength and talent after all these years. It had been nearly 7 years since the cave, but this time Sakura did not have Chiyo-sama to save her life.

A powerful blast of chakra from his feet launched him into her personal space. She blocked the first punch from her left and glared into the haunting eyes from her past, the slight craze in them only further expressed his blood lust for this moment. However, she missed the follow up from the right and it grazed her chin, just inches from resulting in a knock out.

"Focus Sakura, you might not survive long enough to make it to your little mission." He taunted.

"You can't kill a fellow member-" she began.

"Oh sweet little blossom," the honey dripping words were pulling apart her confidence "Kakuzu has been through dozens of partners, who's to say I can't kill just _one little kunoichi._ " His knee jerked up and nailed her in the diaphragm, sending her into a coughing fit. She tried to retreat backwards, but his presence followed her like a shadow, trying to dance just out of her vision.

A quick spin and she threw a backhanded fist to his kidneys. He was newly mortal and thus weak anatomically. Any trauma she could bring to him internally would throw him off his murder path.

 ** _"There, right there, sweetie."_** Inner voiced in a silky whisper. Shocked, Sakura rolled and swiped at the Achilles tendon on his back-right leg. His grunt and slight limp encouraged Sakura further, perhaps all was not lost.

"She's making you look like a bitch danna!"

A flip resulting in the puppeteer finally getting in her blind spot after so long and caught Sakura off guard and a fist to the back of her head. Small lights danced in front of her vision and she tried to shake them free.

"Is this what you've learned from the Uchiha? Perhaps Kisame named you properly, little kitten."

"Shannaroooo!" Her fist collided bluntly into his torso and threw him back several feet. She rained down on him with a barrage of grabs to attempt to throw his body into the ground, but each handle she placed was professional maneuvered so she could not. She was losing the high ground fast and his eyes never lost the glint of insanity "You will fight me with _respect_ -".

Unfortunately, Sasori managed to rip her arm from his person and toss her into the ground. She attempted to stand quickly but met the dead eyes of the blonde puppet from before.

"I will fight you how I see fit."

He knocked her back down and she puffed out of existence, however, the dark smoke used to do it was not normal for a displacement jutsu.

Deidara and Itachi stood motionless, both unsure how to proceed. Did Sakura Haruno just escape from them? Sasori lowered his arms and looked at the indent where she had been. A genjutsu perhaps?

 ** _"Oh I've been dying for this."_**

Whoops, cliffy.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo


End file.
